Not What It Seems
by DrakeRise
Summary: When Harry cuts himself cleaning up the shattered mirror, Snape is there to put him back together again. This simple act has far reaching consequences and harry finds that not everything is as it seems. Manipulations come to light, new bonds are forged and old ties severed. Harry suddenly finds his world turned on its head. dumble-bashing. cuttting. OOC!Snape. Magical!Dudley
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing. Takes place after Harry smashes the two way mirror in book 5.

Dumbledore-Bashing. Clingy-and-delusional-but-not-bad-Ginny. Wizard-Dudley. Self-Harm. Child-Abuse. Cutting. Possible Trigger warnings.

* * *

Harry sighed and leant against the wall. He had no idea where he was in the castle. He looked down at the blood dripping from his shirt sleeves. He should have probably done something to stop the bleeding...

It was his own fault really...

He had smashed the mirror and cut himself pretty bad clearing it up. The physical pain had helped him not think about Sirius so he stopped being careful. He let them cut him pretty badly. There was an especially deep cut on his left wrist where he had stuck his hand in his trunk and it dug into his arm from where it was hiding in the folds of a robe. That was while he was reaching for the first piece so it was quite a while ago and it hadn't stopped bleeding.

He turned around when he heard something behind him. Black spots danced in front of his vision and he nearly ended up on the floor but someone caught him and steadied him. He leant against them... They were really tall...

* * *

Severus sighed to himself. Why did he end up having to patrol during dinner. Every sane person was in the hall eating. Ugh. Stupid meddling headmaster... He stopped as he rounded a corner on the third floor. Fluffy's corridor. He looked and saw someone leaning against the wall. _Oh, of course. It would have to be _you_ wouldn't it? What are you doing now then, Potter? Planning your next piece of mischief?_ Severus stepped forwards. "Potter!"

He watched Potter sluggishly turn around. There was something wrong with the movement though... He looked Potter over... he was really pale... a lot more so than usual... the dark bags under his eyes where obvious but that was nothing new. They had been there all year. The collar of Potter's white school shirt was sticking up on one side and most of the buttons of his outer robes were undone. The red shirt cuffs completely covered his hands. His trousers weren't... red shirt cuffs? White shirt?

Drip.

Severus looked at the little drip of red that splashed on the floor, landing amongst many of its brethren.

His eyes snapped up to look into Potter's glazed and unfocused ones. Potter's head swerved from side to side and he slowly started slipping down the wall.

Severus rushed forwards and caught Potter before he hit the ground. He gently tugged one of the boy's sleeves up and saw the huge gash on his wrist.

He sucked in a breath and his chest clenched painfully. He scooped Potter up and dashed down to his quarters. When he got there he lay Potter down on the couch and ran into his study to get the emergency medical kit.

* * *

Harry opened his eyes and looked around the room. There was a fire crackling merrily in the hearth to his left. He was lying on a dark blue couch. The wood stained a lovely silver. There was a dark wood coffee table between the couch and the hearth. The walls were a light blue on top with a dark wood panelling about waist high. The carpet was a dark chocolate brown.

There was a tug at his wrist and he looked over to see Professor Snape kneeling next to the couch, wrapping a bandage around his wrist. He blinked slowly as his head cleared more and more each passing second. He frowned as the situation hit him. He was lying on Snape's couch. In Snape's rooms. Snape was bandaging his wrist.

Oh god.

Harry closed his eyes tightly.

He had almost killed himself hadn't he?

He looked back at Snape. "Professor?" he whispered.

Snape looked back at him. "Hush, Mr. Po- um... Harry." His eyes swarmed with many different emotions. "Let me get you something to eat. I'm guessing you missed dinner and you've lost a lot of blood." He finished bandaging Harry's wrist and quickly left the room.

Harry slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. _Wait... did Snape just call me Harry? _Harry shook his head. It was taking him way too long to process anything.

Snape came back a few moments later with sandwiches and a pitcher of juice. He set the tray down and poured the juice into a glass for Harry. Harry drank it and was surprised to find out it was apple instead of pumpkin.

"I know it's not pumpkin juice but I find it too sweet. I prefer apple. Besides, apple juice is better for you." Snape looked away and sipped at his own glass.

Harry blinked slowly and looked at his Professor. They ate most of the sandwiches and Harry obediently drank the three potions Snape passed him. Harry sat back against the couch. Now that he had eaten something and drunk those potions he could focus a lot better.

Snape looked at him and Harry felt like he was being x-rayed. It was then that he realised that Snape was sitting on the couch next to him. Not right next to him though. There was a space between them. He shook his head to clear it and looked back at Snape.

Snape sighed. "P-Harry... I understand you must be going through quite a lot right now..."

Harry nodded slowly, wondering what Snape was planning. He was acting very out of character.

Snape continued to stare steadily at Harry, watching his every move. "Loosing... your godfather, so soon after Diggory... it must be quite overwhelming..."

Harry looked away and stared at the fire.

"It wasn't your fault Harry... neither of their deaths was your fault."

Harry shook his head. "Yes they were..."

He felt Snape gently take his hand. "No they weren't. It wasn't your fault."

He shook his head and whispered. "Yes it was. It was my fault. All of them."

There was a pause. "What do you mean 'all of them', Harry?"

Harry took a deep breath. Okay... was he seriously thinking of actually talking to Snape? Well... yeah, the man had just saved his life... and he did send the Order to save him and the others at the ministry... and he did help him last year after the tournament... and the year before when he jumped in front of Moony... and before that he did keep his slytherins mostly under control during his second year... and he saved him from Quirrel during his first match...

Yeah... he owed this man a lot... the least he could do was answer his questions. _Especially if it gets Snape to stop wasting his time trying to save me_, Harry thought.

Harry took another shuddering breath and let it out slowly. "My parents... Quirrel... Lockhart... Ginny... Remus... Cedric... Sirius..." Harry chocked and took another shuddering breath.

Snape rubbed his thumb over the back of Harry's hand. "Why do you think it is your fault your parent's are dead?"

Harry sighed and shook his head. "He was after me. Because of the prophesy... he was after me. Not them. They wouldn't have died if he wasn't after me."

"Your parent's were both part of the Order. You father was an Auror. They were both targets anyway, whether he was after you of not they were both in danger. Your father nearly got killed by him three times. So did your mother. Besides, the prophesy was about either you or Mr Longbottom. Is what happened to his parents his fault?"

Harry shook his head. "No..." he stopped. He and Neville were just over a day apart in age. Neville was born in the last few hours of the day on the 30th while Harry was born within the last few minutes of the day on the 31st. If Neville was born an hour later his birthday would be the 31st. Likewise, if Harry was born minutes later his birthday would be the first of August.

He and Neville were fifteen months old when their parents were attacked. One year, three months... it wasn't really Neville's fault that LeStrange tortured his parent's into insanity.

Harry sighed. "Neville wasn't a target. The prophesy wasn't about him."

"But it could have been. What if your situations were reversed? What if it was his parents who were killed and he the boy who lived and your parents were tortured into insanity in St Mungo's?"

Harry sighed. Snape was really confusing him right now. Why was the man being so... caring? Harry shook his head and smiled. Clearly he was either insane and delusional or he had passed out in the corridor and this was a weird kind of dream. That would account for Snape being nice and for the room looking so normal and not Slytherin.

Well, if he was hallucinating he may as well tell this dream Snape what he wanted to know.

"If the situation was reversed then the situation would be reversed. If Neville were in my place then he would be with all the blame that comes with it. I'm glad _he_ targeted me and not Neville but it doesn't change the fact that 'the-boy-who-lived' is responsible for his parent's death. Whether that boy ended up as me or Neville was _his _choice."

Snape shook his head. "Did you ask to be targeted?"

"No."

"Did you ask for your parents to use Pettigrew as their secret keeper?"

"No."

"Did you ask for your parents to go into hiding?"

"No."

"Did you ask to be born?"

"No."

"Did you ask for your parents to conceive you?"

Harry laughed. "No."

"Then how could it be your fault? The blame for your parents' deaths lies at the feet of many people but not yours."

Harry looked over at Snape his eyes were burning with many different emotions. It was so strange to see so many emotions in those usually dead looking eyes. His imagination must be very good if it was creating things in such good detail.

"Harry. Trelawney was the one to give that prophesy in the first place. One of the Death Eaters took the prophesy to the dark lord... the dark lord was the one who decided to go after your family... your parents and Sirius chose to use Pettigrew as their secret keeper... Pettigrew chose to betray them to the dark lord... there is bits of blame to be lain at the feet of many people but the one who is ultimately responsible for your parents deaths is the dark lord. He's the one who drew his wand on them. He's the one who dealt the final blow. It's his fault. Not yours."

Harry took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. He shook his head. No. no. it was his fault... if he hadn't been born then...

But Snape had said they were in the order... Moody showed him a picture of them with the order during the first war... it was true that they did fight him... they would have died eventually... everyone does but they would have lived a lot longer if it wasn't for him.

"That's not true Harry."

Harry looked up at Snape through his fringe and realised he had been speaking out loud.

"It wasn't your fault."

Harry took a deep breath and tears started welling up in his eyes.

"It wasn't your fault, Harry."

He shook his head and took another deep breath.

Snape moved closer and gingerly wrapped an arm over Harry's shoulders. "It wasn't your fault."

Harry lost it and buried his face in Snape's robes and cried.

* * *

Severus looked over at the fire, tentatively rubbing a hand on Po-Harry's back. He was not used to physical contact. Dealing with abused kids? Yes. Dealing with depressed kids? Yes. Hugs? No. Not since Lily stopped being his friend. He tried to relax a little. It would be no good for Harry if he was tense like this.

He gently patted Harry's back, whispering in his ear that it wasn't his fault over and over.

After a few minutes Harry started agreeing with him. "N-Not... not my f-fault." He sobbed.

About ten minutes later he had fallen asleep so Severus gently scooped him up and carried him into his bedroom. He lay Harry down in his bed and pulled a pair of sleep pants and a t-shirt out of his cupboard. He used a quick spell to swap Harry's uniform with the sleep clothes and settled the boy down to sleep. He took his own sleep pants out of the wardrobe. After a quick shower he got changed, pulled a spare blanket out the cupboard and settled to sleep on the couch.

Just before he lay down he called his house elf Dazzy and asked her to get the blood stains out of Potter's clothes. If any of the other elves saw them they would report to Albus and Severus had a feeling that Potter didn't want anyone to know about what he very nearly did.

Still... it was odd that the boy was standing in the corridor like that... surely if he intended to take his own life he would have gone somewhere he wouldn't be found and then cut.

Severus shook his head and lay on the couch. He would think about it in the morning. For now, it was late and he was tired.

* * *

Harry yawned and stretched. The bed was really comfy. He blinked his eyes open and felt on the bedside table for his glasses. Upon finding them he looked up and found himself staring at a dark blue canopy.

...

...

This wasn't his bed...

...

...

Shit.

He looked around the room and found himself lying on a single bed pushed against the wall. There was a dark wood bedside table beside him with a lamp which he switched on. Upon looking around the room he froze when he recognised the robes draped over the end of the bed.

Those were Snape's teaching robes.

... O_O' ...

Oh SHIT!

He wasn't hallucinating last night. That really was Snape... oh god... oh god...

He looked at what he was wearing.

Oh god.

Harry looked around and saw only one door which was partially open. He poked his head out of the bedroom and saw Snape sprawled out on the couch, mouth open, drooling a little bit, snoring lightly, one arm over his eyes, other arm hanging of the side of the couch, one leg over back of the couch, other leg bent oddly, his foot near his hand.

Harry stared. That could not be comfortable.

As he watched Snape stretched and fell off the couch, landing with a grunt on the floor.

Harry had to stuff his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing and ducked back around the corner to avoid being seen.

* * *

Severus lay on his back on the floor. "Why'm' I 'n e floor?" he slurred. He blinked. "Oh... right. Potter's in my bed." He sat up and looked at the clock on the fireplace. "Seven thirty? Wow. I never sleep this late..."

He stood up and rubbed at his neck just as the fire turned green. "Severus."

Severus pulled himself together and glared down at the fireplace. "Albus."

"Severus. Why are you wearing that?"

Severus glared at Albus. "These happen to be my sleep clothes Albus. It is in fact a weekend. Am I not allowed to sleep in occasionally? You had me on patrol last night. What is it you need? I have to start brewing some potions for Poppy."

Albus glared at Severus. "Now now, Severus. No need to get so upset. I merely wished to know if you had seen Mr Potter anywhere on your patrol last night."

Severus sighed. "No, Albus. I did not." He heard shuffling in the other room. "Maybe he just went somewhere to grieve and be alone, without the rest to the school staring, pointing and whispering? Or his friends clinging to him and not letting him have a moment's peace?"

Albus sighed. "Very well. Let me know if you hear anything."

Severus nodded. "Of course, Albus."

The fire died back down and Severus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He grimaced in disgust when he realised he had a line of drool on his cheek. So much for looking dignified. He wiped the drool off and walked over to the bedroom door. He knocked gently. "Potter? Are you awake?" He asked quietly.

Potter opened the door and looked up at him through his fringe. Clearly he had been eavesdropping.

Severus smirked. "Good. Hungry?" he motioned Potter to follow him and walked to the kitchen.

* * *

Harry followed Snape into the kitchen and sat down when the man pointed at one of the chairs at the table. "Dazzy."

A house elf appeared looked at the two of them and popped away again. She returned moments later with two plated of food, which she set on the table.

"Thank you Dazzy." Snape smirked and nodded his head to her. She bowed her head back and eyed Harry critically before popping away. She came back and handed Snape a potion and disappeared. Snape looked at the bottle and smirked. "Hm. She always knows exactly what I need. Here, Mr Potter. Drink this."

Harry eyed the potion suspiciously.

Snape sighed. "It's a nutrient potion. You clearly haven't been eating well."

Harry scowled.

Snape smirked a little. "Don't give me that look, Potter. You barely eat as much as anyone else anyway and even Mr Malfoy knows you tend to starve yourself when you're worrying about something."

Harry sighed and drank the potion, pleasantly surprised that it tasted rather nice, although he couldn't place the flavour.

Snare smirked. "Rather fortunate that it tastes like candy floss, right? That one is the second strongest available. The strongest one tastes like broccoli and stilton. You will be taking one of those at dinner."

Harry nodded and the two of them settled down to eat their breakfast. Harry was happy they had apple juice again. He had only had one carton of it at school in Surry when the new girl noticed he didn't have any lunch and gave him one of her sandwiches and a carton of apple juice.

Of course Dudley started beating her up after that and she quickly learned not to associate with Harry.

Snape was right though, apple juice was much thinner than pumpkin juice and was not so overly sweet.

After they finished a surprisingly nice breakfast, company and all, Snape led Harry back over to the couch in the sitting room and they sat down. Harry looked up at Snape through his fringe. "Why are you being nice to me?"

Snape sighed and leant against the couch, fiddling with the blanket that he had somehow thrown over the back in his sleep. "I met you once when you were a few months old. It was the first and only time I saw you before your first year. You parent's were already being targeted at that time. They were staying here for a while because their house got blown up. I had been best friends with your mother growing up and until that incident in our fifth year, which you know about, we were practically siblings. Although everyone seemed to think I was in love with her... I _was_, but i never told anyone."

Harry narrowed his eyes. That didn't answer his question.

"Your mother asked me to promise to look out for you while she couldn't. I had assumed she wanted me to watch over you while you were at school but I think she knew that _He_ wouldn't stop until they were dead. I promised to watch out for you then. After... the day after she and your father died I was talking to Albus in his office. I promised him then that I would protect you. I also promised your mother's memory."

Harry glanced up at Snape and saw him staring passionately back at him. "I will protect you, Potter. Even if it's from yourself."

Harry chewed his bottom lip and stared down at him lap. Could he trust Snape? Was he telling the truth? No one had ever promised to look out for him before. Especially not from himself. Then again, Snape was the only person who has never lied to him. He's withheld the truth sometimes but whenever he has answered Harry's questions he has done so truthfully.

Everyone else has lied to him at some point.

Harry nodded and thought about all his interactions with Snape in the past. He blushed when the first thing that came to mind was the pensive incident a few months ago. "I'm sorry for looking in your pensive, Professor. I really didn't think you would have anything personal in there. I knew you and Dumbledore knew about the connection between me and _him_. I thought you didn't want me seeing anything order related. It didn't occur to me until later that even if it was order related I shouldn't see it because it would put you in danger. I'm really sorry... it was none of my business..."

Snape sighed. "It is quite alright Mr Potter. I understand. You wanted to feel included. You are a main player in this war and the headmaster seems to be determined to keep you unaware of everything. It is natural that you would want to find out all you can so you can be prepared. I only ask that you don't go into people's pensives without permission again."

Harry nodded. "Yes sir."

There was a brief pause and Snape tilted his head to one side. "How are you feeling this morning, Mr Potter?"

Harry's head snapped up and he stared at Snape. Okay, no way. No way was he talking to Snape about his feelings.

Snape chuckled. Honest to god, _chuckled_. "I mean physically. Are you feeling light headed at all? Having trouble concentrating? Headaches? Blurry vision? Spots in your eyes? Ears ringing?"

Harry sighed. "I'm fine."

Snape shook his head. "That is not an acceptable answer, Mr Potter. You could be missing both your arms and legs, covered in red welts and bleeding all over the place and you would still say you're fine."

Harry sighed. "I'm a little light headed but that's normal after losing so much blood. I don't have a headache or blurry vision or spots in my eyes and my ears aren't ringing. I am confused though, sir. You're acting very out of character."

Snape smirked. "Well, I'm not pretending to be a Death Eater right now, am I?"

Harry smirked. "Right." He then blushed and looked down at his lap. "Um... sir... I... um... last night..."

"I will not tell anyone about what you said last night. That was just between us."

Harry looked sideways at Snape. It was impossible to predict anything with this man. Okay, yeah, he has to keep up a certain persona in public so he can maintain his position as a spy. Still... it seemed like everything Harry knew about the man was wrong. Harry didn't know how to act around Snape like this or how to react to him. He didn't know if he would suddenly turn around and be his usual snarky sadistic self or if this was the real Snape hiding behind the mask.

Harry sighed. Snape was the one person that had never changed. He was the only constant thing in Harry's life. The only person who had never changed. Until now.

* * *

Severus looked at Potter. He really did seem so pathetic right now. His skin was really pale and the bags under his eyes seemed so much darker than usual. Severus pulled a blood replenisher and weak dreamless sleep out of his pockets. After giving Potter the blood replenisher he held up the other one. "This is a mild dreamless sleep. It will allow you to sleep without dreams but it only lasts for two hours. After that you will start to dream. I want you to take this and get some more sleep. With your visions you haven't been sleeping. That is contributing negatively to your mood."

Potter sighed and took the potion off him. Severus pointed Potter to the bathroom and waited for him to leave. When he came out Severus went into the bedroom with him. "When you wake, feel free to look around my chambers, just don't answer the floo, don't come into my potions lab unless you need me for something and don't leave my rooms. Aside from the fact that you are wearing a pair of my sleep clothes, I think you need some time to grieve without everyone in the school staring at you or your friends trying to either distract you or force you to talk about it. I know it is too fresh right now."

Potter nodded and looked up at him through his fringe. Those piercing green eyes were so full of pain. "Okay sir."

Severus nodded. "I will be in my lab, I need to get started on brewing some of the potions for the hospital wing." He stood up and picked up his teaching robes off the end of the bed and pulling some clothes out of the wardrobe. He left the room and quickly got changed in the bathroom before heading to his lab, stopping to ward his fireplace on the way past.

* * *

Harry woke with a start. He looked at the clock and realised it was eleven O'clock. He stood up and stretched. He slept dreamlessly for a few hours before he started having a nightmare. Just one of the ones about Vernon so nothing too bad. He went to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. After finishing what he needed to do he left and decided to explore the rooms a little.

The furnishings in all the rooms were blue and silver. The wood was all the same dark brown. Harry found Snape's study (Which he left alone), a library (He decided to go back in there later), Snape's lab (Which he backed out of quietly so as not to disturb the man), an empty room, a room with a bunch of musical instruments and a room that looked to Harry like some kind of training room. As he walked back into the sitting room from the long hallway with all these doors Dazzy popped up next to him.

"Young master, I have prepared lunch. Could you tell Master Severus?"

Harry nodded and walked back to the lab. He tentatively knocked on the door and poked his head around. He saw Snape turn to look at him. "Um... Dazzy said lunch is ready..."

Snape nodded. "Alright. Just let me finish the next two steps and this can be left to boil for a few hours. Go on and start, I'll only be a few minutes." He turned back to the cauldron and Harry backed out of the room.

Harry walked into the kitchen and sat at the table. He drank the potion Dazzy gave him, recognising it as the same one he had that morning. A few minutes later Snape came into the room and sat down. Once he started eating Harry followed suit. He noticed the strange look Snape gave him but ignored it. Snape seemed to ignore whatever it was that made him give Harry that look and they ate in a semi-comfortable silence.

* * *

Severus looked speculatively at Potter. He had told the boy to go ahead and start eating his lunch but instead he had waited for him. Not only that, but Potter had waited for him to finish serving himself before getting his own food. Then the boy waited for him to start eating before eating any of his own food. When Potter started picking at his food Severus passed him an appetite stimulant. Potter was then able to finish his lunch and took seconds after Severus prompted him too.

Severus narrowed his eyes. One of his snakes acted like that. The young lady graduated the year before Potter arrived. She would barely eat anything and always waited for others to eat their fill before getting any food herself. It turned out that she had been starved at home.

He knew the Dursleys weren't hard off. They got a monthly stipend for Potter's care which was more than enough.

So why did he act like he had been starved?

* * *

Harry was feeling rather uncomfortable under his teachers gaze. The man had made him eat way more than normal so for the first time since he could remember, his stomach was full. Harry discreetly stretched his legs out under the table, careful not to touch Snape. He was suddenly feeling a bit sleepy again, despite being asleep all day.

He narrowed his eyes and looked suspiciously at Snape.

Snape smirked. Harry was beginning to think that was Snape's equivalent to smiling. "What do you plan to do for the rest of today, Mr Potter?"

Harry looked to the side. "Um... is it okay if I read in the library, sir?"

Snape nodded. "That's quite alright Mr Potter."

Harry fiddled with the hem of the shirt he was wearing and looked up at Snape through his lashes. He hoped to god there was a spell to change people's clothes. "Um... sir... I... I was... um..."

"Yes?"

Harry took a deep breath. "What happened to my clothes?"

Snape blinked and stared at Harry for a second before clearing his throat and looking off to the side. "I have Dazzy cleaning the blood stains out of them." He eyed Harry critically. "Don't worry, Potter. There is a spell used to switch one set of clothing for another. I didn't strip you by hand. I do have _some_ morals after all." Snape smirked in amusement.

Harry grinned and chuckled. Who knew Snape had a sense of humour.


	2. Chapter 2

I bring you this chapter much earlier than normal because I love all of you so much! You make me feel so loved.

I have put a poll up on my profile as to which of my four current stories I should make my main focus. The others will still have their monthly updates but I would like to have one that is my main focus. Please, let me know what you think.

If any of you have any questions about anything in the story, ask. If you can't understand it, other people might not either. I will answer any questions at the start of each chapter, to help clear up any misunderstandings.

* * *

Harry sighed as he walked back to Gryffindor tower. It was the last day of term and he needed to get his things together to go back to the Dursleys. He had spent the past two weeks with Snape in his quarters. The man was surprisingly easy to get along with.

When he wasn't pretending to be a Death Eater. He had even converted the empty room in his quarters into a bedroom for him so neither of them had to sleep on the couch.

The two had sat on the sofa for several hours, late into the night, every night talking about all the bad things that had happened to Harry in school. There was no way he was going to allow Snape to find out about the Dursleys. No way in hell. Besides, it wouldn't be so bad this year. Snape had managed to get a hold of some hair from one of his neighbours, a regal looking man in his late forties. He had made pollyjuice and told Harry he would be visiting him once a week in the guise of his councillor.

He would take Harry out and return him by the end of the day. If anyone asked, his name was Jacob Walker. Harry would be calling him Jacob. It was going to be weird.

They didn't touch the topics of Sirius or Cedric yet. Severus told Harry he wanted to talk about it before the next school year started but he wasn't going to push Harry into anything.

Harry was kind of embarrassed that Snape thought he had been cutting or had tried of off himself, but talking to the man about everything that was troubling him actually made him feel a lot better so he decided not to tell the man he was mistaken. They hadn't covered much in the two weeks Harry had been there but Harry already felt much lighter than before.

Harry's hand fluttered up to his neck and felt the invisible potions chain there. There were six shrunken bottles there. Each one was half the size of his thumb but once he unscrewed them from the chain they would revert back to normal size. There was a dreamless sleep, both nutrient potions, a pain reliever, a general healing potion and a blood replenisher. The chain was also invisible to anyone but him and Snape and no one could touch it either.

Each one automatically refilled from a box in Snape's study so the man was able to keep an eye on which ones he took. Harry would have to be careful of the pain reliever and blood replenisher if the threat of weekly visits from a councillor didn't stop Vernon.

Harry stuffed his other hand in his pocket and felt the bag inside. Snape had surprised him again. He had given Harry a mokeskin bag. Anything he put in it could only be taken out by him. It was also spelled bottomless and feather-light. Snape had also placed an automatic shrinking charm on it so it would be small enough to fit on the necklace. All Harry had to do was tap it with his wand and it would shrink and re-grow and since he wasn't using an actual spell the ministry wouldn't pick it up. The bag was also invisible to anyone but him.

Harry sighed and whispered the password to the fat lady and stepped into the common room. He was immediately bombarded with questions and had a red and brown blur hug him from either side. Harry sighed and patted Ginny and Hermione and nodded to Ron and Neville. The five of them went up into the boy's dorm and ignored everyone downstairs asking them questions.

Harry flopped down on his bed and frowned when Ginny cuddled into him. He gently pushed her off and sat up. "So, what's been happening?"

Hermione put her fists on her hips and frowned at Harry. "What's been happening? Everyone's been turning the school upside down looking for you! _We_ have all been worried sick about you, _Harry_."

Harry smiled at her. The way she stressed her words told him more than her words themselves. The four of them had been worried about Harry. Not 'the-boy-who-lived'. He gently reached forwards and took her hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry. I just... needed some time alone to grieve... I know you were all just trying to help but... with everyone else staring and whispering... I wanted to be alone... an even here you guys were pestering me... I know you were trying to help but... you can be a bit... _overbearing_ at times."

Hermione sighed and sat down on the bed next to Harry and leant on his shoulder. "I know Harry. I'm sorry. We should have left you alone to grieve. We just didn't want you to do something stupid."

Harry laughed at the irony and shook his head, fingering the scars on his wrist. "Don't worry. I won't do something stupid."

Ron sat down next to Harry and nudged Ginny to sit next to Neville. He slung his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Harry. Even if you don't do something stupid you will somehow find a way to end up in trouble. You're a trouble magnet."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, but I can always rely on you to point out when trouble is coming and help me get out of it." He smiled. "I'm glad you're my friend, Ron. Hermione." He turned to look down at the bushy head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around each of his friends. He smiled at Neville and Ginny sitting on Ron's bed. "You two as well. I'm lucky I have friends like you."

They talked for a few more hours before heading down to lunch. Since they had already had their exams they didn't have any classes so Harry didn't miss anything there. He was pleased to hear that Malfoy seemed to be keeping his head down.

When they entered the great hall everyone started staring and whispering. Harry growled and stared at the floor. Damn this was annoying. "You guys wanna go eat in the kitchens?" the others nodded and they headed out the room. After lunch they made their way back up to Gryffindor tower and settled back in the boy's dorm. After a while Hermione and Ginny went to go and pack their stuff and Harry, Ron and Neville did the same.

Harry lay awake in bed that night. Looking at the mirror that had been on his table, but was now in his trunk, had gotten him thinking about when he had cut himself. The whole time cleaning up the mirror he had felt nothing. He was numb. He had been able to clear the mess without worrying about everything. It... it didn't bother him. Nothing bothered him.

He shook his head. No. he was not going to think like that. He carefully unscrewed the dreamless sleep from his necklace before he remembered Snape's warning. He couldn't take it two nights in a row and no more than three times a week. He sighed and screwed it back on. He might need it tomorrow so he couldn't take it tonight.

Harry stayed awake for a few hours before he sighed and took the potion anyway.

Harry awoke to Ron poking his side. The express left at eight thirty, so students had to be ready by eight to go down to the station. He dragged himself out of bed and took a shower. He ran his thumb over the scars on his left wrist before shaking his head. No. He was not going to cut on purpose. No.

A few hours later he was sitting in a compartment with Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna. He filled Luna in on what had been happening. He didn't tell them everything. He refused to tell them where he was, who he was with or what he had been doing. Ron and Harry were both happy that as graduating fifth years, they didn't have any homework. After just doing their OWLs they didn't know what classes they would be able to get into the NEWT classes for so the fifth years didn't have any homework.

Far too soon for his liking the train pulled into London and Harry sighed. After a long goodbye to his friends and a promise to write, Harry left through the barrier with Hermione. She spotted her parents and, after another quick goodbye, ran over to them while Harry went to find the Dursleys. They didn't show up for another hour but Harry wasn't too bothered by that.

He had left Hedwig with Luna, telling her about how his relatives really didn't like her and he was worried what they would do to her. This was only a half truth. He was mostly worried about his Uncle killing her but he was also worried about them starving him again. He had the nutrient potions so it was not so bad but he didn't want to half starve Hedwig again.

When the Dursleys finally arrived, Harry put his trunk in the boot and slid into the back seat next to his cousin. Vernon glared at him through the rear view mirror. "Listen Freak. Your freak of a headmaster wrote to us a few weeks ago. Told us your godfather went and got himself killed. And it sounds like it was your fault. So, not only did you kill your parents and that boy last year, you went and killed your godfather this year too. Anyway, that means we don't have to worry about him coming in and killing us in our sleep. So guess what? You are gonna get what you deserve. We're gonna start treating you like the freak you are."

"Uncle-"

"Not a word, Freak."

"Uncle-"

"Dudley."

Dudley hit him, surprisingly it didn't hurt. "Uncle, I just-"

"I don't care what you have to say, Freak. Not another word."

Harry huffed and rubbed his arm, pretending he was hurt. "I have-"

"Shut up!"

"A therapist-"

"Enough!"

"Coming to see me-"

"Dudley!"

Dudley punched him again.

"Every Saturday."

Silence.

"What was that, Freak?"

"Since I have seen two people die within the span of a year, the school nurse arranged for me to see a therapist every Saturday. I'm meeting him somewhere next weekend but after that he'll be coming to pick me up from your house. If he sees bruises you will be in trouble. My kind takes child abuse very seriously."

Vernon stewed for a few minutes as they drove to privet drive. He was silent until they walked into the house. He punched Harry hard in the gut. "Take your trunk up to my bedroom and get in your cupboard."

Harry obeyed silently. He spent a few hours in the cupboard before Vernon banged on the door and yelled at him to get into the living room. When Harry stood in front of him, Vernon scowled down at him. "That therapist of yours is not to know about any of this. Understand?"

Harry nodded. "Yes sir. I won't let anyone see. No one will know. I promise."

Vernon punched Harry in the gut and Harry doubled over in pain. Vernon pounded him for a while before sending him into his cupboard. He spent the whole weekend lock in there. He took the nutrient potions but he wasn't sure if that would be enough. Without proper food he would still starve.

He was dragged out at five thirty on Monday to make breakfast for his Uncle, who had to leave at six thirty that day as he had a very important meeting early and wanted to make sure everything was in place.

Harry was then given his usual list of chores to do and found them to be impossible, as usual. The whole time he worked he couldn't help but think about Sirius and Cedric.

By the end of the day he was tired, sore and hadn't finished his chores. He made dinner and finished just in time for his Uncle to come home. Thankfully the deal went well and diner was perfect. Unfortunately Petunia whined about Harry not doing his chores properly, slacking off and not finishing.

Harry finished cleaning the dishes and stood waiting in the living room while his relatives ate dinner. A few minutes later there was the scraping of a chair and Vernon waddled into the room and dragged Harry upstairs to Dudley's second bedroom. Harry took his shirt off and braced himself against the table. He heard a jingling behind him and the sound of something cutting through the air before a sharp pain erupted across his back.

He jerked in surprise and gasped at the feeling of numbness that spread through his mind even as his back throbbed in pain. He braced himself and grit his teeth, mentally counting the lashes and nearly sobbing not at the pain but at the blessed numbness that blanketed his mind. He felt so blissfully _numb_ that he didn't _care_ his Uncle was whipping him with the buckle end of a belt.

When it was over Harry hung his head and stood waiting for his Uncle's next instructions. "Finish the dishes and get to your cupboard. I don't want to see you until tomorrow. Got it?"

"Yes Uncle Vernon."

Harry watched out the corner of his eye as Vernon waddled out the room, putting his belt back on as he did. Harry vaguely wondered how he managed to find a belt that fit him before shaking his head. He stood up straight and reached for his shirt before gasping in surprise. Oh, he forgot how badly it hurt. He grit his teeth and pulled his shirt on. He went downstairs and cleaned the plates the Dursleys used and went back to his cupboard.

Severus sighed as he looked at the supply of potions linked to the ones on Potter's necklace. He hadn't used any yet, except for the nutrient potions. That was a relief. He knew that if too many of the potions were used then he would go and find out why. He only had to wait a few days until Saturday and then he would be able to see Potter.

He looked over at the shiny red Lamborghini in his driveway and smirked. He had a lot of money so he figured he might as well buy a nice looking expensive car. He looked over at the expensive suit he had bought. The man he had stolen a hair from was a regal looking gentleman which was greatly at odds with his personality.

He smirked wider. He knew Potter had a lot of money and status' that he himself didn't know most of and he intended to take the... young man to Gringotts and get him emancipated and gain control of his assets. He had a pollyjuice for Potter to take so he wouldn't be recognised. They would have to get robes on before going into the leaky cauldron though. It would not do for two people dressed in muggle clothes to be seen in Diagon ally.

He looked down at the potions again. Hopefully Potter won't try to off himself again.

He frowned.

Why didn't he see it?

He always sees it.

Harry sighed and looked at the little knife in his hand. It was an old pocket knife of Dudley's that had been lost in his second bedroom for years now. Harry knew exactly where it was since it was his responsibility to ensure that room was tidy, especial while he was living in it.

Harry took a deep breath and gently laid the flat of the blade against his skin. The cool of the blade felt good. He gently dragged it across his skin a few times before he abruptly pulled it away, flipped it closed and stuffed it in the bag. He was not going to cut. He had already had to drink several blood replenishers and a few of the healing potions over the past few days.

He would be seeing Snape tomorrow and doubtless the man would ask him why but there was no way he was telling the man he was abused by his Uncle. No way in hell.

He pulled out a dreamless sleep potion and downed it in one. He sighed in contentment as he slipped into a dreamless sleep, free of nightmares.

Severus checked the potions before he left the house and was shocked to realise that at some point in the night Potter had drunk a blood replenisher as well as using half a bottle of the healing potion and a dreamless sleep. The boy had been using the potions in the past few days. Always late in the evening.

He frowned. Did Potter cut because of their meeting today?

He hoped not.

Harry sighed as he walked down the street. He felt disgusted with himself for what he almost did last night. Harry shook his head. He was disgusted with himself. He had to drink a general healing potion before he left so that the wounds Uncle Vernon gave him would be gone before the meeting. It was not like he would be taking his shirt off or anything but he had to be prepared. He was thankful that the potion could either be drunk or applied directly to the wound.

His hand fluttered down to the bag in his pocket. His wand, invisibility cloak, photo album, pocket knife, firebolt and coin purse were in there. It was sad that those were the only things he owned that weren't clothing or school supplies.

He spied the cafe where he was meeting Professor Snape. He was also aware of the order member following him. He paused outside the cafe and smiled when he saw 'Jacob Walker' sitting at one of the tables. The man waved to him and Harry lifted a hand in return before opening the door. He held the door open just long enough for his tail to slip in after him and walked right over to sit with Snape.

"Hey, Jacob."

'Jacob' smiled. "Hello Harry. How are you?"

Harry smiled sadly. "As well as I can be." He was surprised when a waitress came over with a piece of treacle tart and a lemonade. She winked at him and walked away, giving Jacob a nasty look. Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why did she look at you like that? And what's with this?"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "I ordered that moments before you arrived and told her it was for my companion who would be here soon. As for that look? I can only guess."

Harry smiled. "Well, thank you. I wasn't expecting you to treat me to my favourite treat."

Jacob smiled. "I know it's your favourite. That is why I ordered it. Unlike some people I know how to listen."

Harry smiled disarmingly at him and gently grasped his hand over the table, smiling wider at the gasp from the order member beside him. "Thank you." he took his hand back and picked up his fork, taking a bit of the treacle tart. "Mmmnngghh." Harry deliberately moaned as sensually as possible.

Jacob smiled. "You are welcome. Now, eat your tart and let's get going."

Harry grinned around his fork, leisurely trailing his tongue up the underside. Jacob slid his gaze to the order member hiding just to their left and Harry heard the man gasp again. So, it was a man following him today. It wasn't Remus or Dung that much he knew. Dung smelled strongly of alcohol, even when he was sober and the full moon was last night so Remus would be recovering.

It wasn't Mad-Eye. He was too careful he would have cast a silencing charm around himself and would not be so close. Harry gave up guessing and instead focused on his tart. It really was his favourite thing ever.

After he had finished his tart and lemonade and Jacob finished his coffee the two left the cafe and Jacob pulled out a set of keys which he used to unlock the fancy red car parked right in front of the cafe. Harry slid into the passenger seat and they drove away.

A little ways down the road Harry laughed. "I haven't had fun like that in ages. I could tell the waitress thought we were a couple and I thought I might just annoy the order by pretending to be in a relationship with a man about three times my age."

Snape made a gagging motion. "I would hope you would not, Potter. I, myself, am twenty years your senior. I'm the same age as your father. To think of someone your age, together with someone older than me?" Snape shuddered.

Harry laughed. "And right now? You look like you're in your late forties. I'm fifteen." He shuddered. "That would be horrible. So, where are we going and what will we be doing?"

Snape smirked. "First, we are stopping at one of my properties so we can get changed. Then, we are going to Gringotts. Then shopping."

Harry nodded and looked out the window. Within minutes he was asleep.

Severus noticed the look the waitress gave him. He knew what it meant. The woman thought he was a paedophile. He knew the order member was there the whole time. From the way Potter held open the door he knew the boy did too.

He glanced over at the boy sleeping in the passenger seat. Yeah. There was no way he was attracted to this boy, this poor innocent child who had to grow up far too soon. No, if anything he was beginning to feel and almost fatherly affection for the young man.

When they arrived at the Prince property in London he gently shook Potter awake. It seems like the boy slept better in his car than he did in a bed.

Potter stretched and rubbed his eyes, waking up slowly. He hoped the boy would get better soon. He hated the thought of any child harming themselves or hating living so much that they would try to...

He shook his head. Now was not the time.

Harry yawned and rubbed his eyes. He looked up at the house in front of him. It was an average London house and he was surprised Snape lived there. A short while later he was dressed in a new set of robes and under the influence of some modified pollyjuice. It lasted a lot longer than an hour.

A side-along-apparition later and they were standing in Diagon ally and headed for Gringotts.

Harry/Leon looked up at Snape/Jacob and took a deep breath before stepping into the bank. He had a feeling this was going to be eventful.


	3. Chapter 3

Severus walked out the bank. They had managed to order a full audit of Potter's account and view the Potter and Black wills. Since the will did _not _name a certain headmaster as Potter's guardian that meant that every transaction made by Dumbledore to the Potter accounts was made illegally and Potter had given permission to Gringotts to reverse any and all of these transactions. He had told them about the few transactions he had allowed, the money taken out before each school year for his supplies.

Gringotts was more than happy to take the money back, with interest, since theft was something they did not tolerate. They had used old goblin magic to destroy all the keys tied into the Potter accounts and issued new ones. Two keys were created for each vault, Gringotts kept one and gave Harry the other to all but the main vault, which he would be able to access once he turned seventeen.

Severus had also taken Potter down to his other vaults. He found a vault full of books and Severus made sure to tell the goblins that items were included in the audit, not just money. Goblins liked to be as tricky as he did so he wanted to make sure.

Potter had taken a few books out and put them in his pouch before they left the vaults and went back up to the office. When they were there Severus requested a card for Potter. This would allow him to access his account from any shop without having to carry the money around with him. It also worked in the muggle world which meant he would not be affected by the exchange charges.

Once in the office they had both taken their pollyjuice and Severus started to lead Potter out of the bank. Potter turned around. "Is it possible to have the results of the audit either owled to Professor Snape or hand delivered to privet drive? My family hate magic and if I got an owl they would flip."

The goblin looked sad but nodded. "Indeed, Mr Potter. It will take a few weeks to do the audit but when it is done we will hand deliver it to your address."

Potter nodded and thanked the goblin before they both left the bank.

Their first stop was a formal robe shop. As Lord Potter, Lord Black and the Ninth Earl of Wellborn it was expected of him to have decent clothing and formal robes for formal events. Potter would be attending a lot of those once he turned seventeen.

Severus looked sadly at Potter as he stared in awe at everything around them. For someone to show such amazement at something as simple as different types of materials... he saw the rags Potter showed up with earlier. As he thought back he realised that Potter had never changed out of his school uniform at school. In fact, many students started wearing their uniform at weekends after they realised Potter only ever wore his.

He did the same thing when he was at school but that was because he didn't want anyone to see his ratty, worn-to-a-thread clothing. He knew the Dursleys were not hard done by. The money they got every month for Potter's upkeep was more than enough.

His eyes narrowed. Could it be that they didn't dress the boy properly?

Severus looked around the room and called one of the tailors over, requesting a private room for the fitting. He also made the man swear an oath of silence before he gave Potter the antidote for the pollyjuice. When Potter was told to remove his shirt he went very white but slowly removed his shirt.

He was way too thin and covered in scars. Severus figured the scars were from his many adventures while at Hogwarts. He couldn't believe a child had been that injured under their care...

Those scars on his back could not have happened by accident...

Severus shared a glance with the tailor but didn't say anything. They would not be getting much while they were here, one or two robes at the most, but they would be seeing what colours and styles fitted Potter's colouring and frame. This would then be put on file so they could fit him much faster in the future.

Potter seemed almost terrified without his shirt on but he still grinned while trying on each robe and seemed in awe when he put on a white one and the tailor used a spell to change its colour through various different ranges of each spectrum. Once they had all the information they needed the tailor left and returned with an open robe that was mostly black but had an emerald sheen.

Potter was delighted and even pouted when Severus told him he was not allowed to wear it unless it was a formal occasion.

Once they had bought the robes Severus dragged Potter to a shoe shop to buy several new pairs of shoes. Potter practically begged him with his eyes to let him by a pair of gothic style, knee high boots with silver studs and spikes. Severus sighed and added them to the basket along with a pair of black combat boots and black and green sneakers.

Severus watched Potter closely as they shopped. He showed all the symptoms but... surely not... he frowned. Then again... this was Petunia. It would also explain the scars... He looked back at Potter. If he was... Albus would have a lot to pay for.

Once shoes had been bought, Severus dragged Potter around several other clothing stores as well as an optician to make an appointment (Wednesday two weeks from now) so Potter wouldn't need glasses anymore. The spell to give someone 20-20 vision was complex and very, very painful so most people preferred to go with glasses.

Potter dragged Severus into a few stores to buy a few bits and bobs like soap and shampoo. He also made sure to by loads of treats for Hedwig, he had a big apology to make when he got back to school. Severus made Potter buy a new bag for school. It had several pockets and well as being charmed bottomless and feather-light. Everything they bought went into Potter's pouch.

Once they finished shopping in Diagon they got a quick lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and borrowed a room from Tom to change into muggle clothes. They headed out into muggle London and browsed around several shops. They bought more clothing so Potter could fit in in the muggle world as well as the wizarding one.

Potter was ecstatic when he spotted a 'design your own t-shirt' shop. After looking at the pre-made designs Potter opened a file on the computer, easily following the directions, and typed his own messages. He ended up with a red shirt with 'KEEP CALM AND BE GRYFFINOR' on the front and a roaring lion on the back and a green one with a silver snake wrapped around some eggs. He had used a 'tablet' (Whatever that was) to write 'Don't Mess With Me' below it in Parselscript, the written form of Parseltongue (Severus didn't know that even existed). He also bought an emerald green one with silver lettering spelling 'KEEP CALM AND BE SLYTHERIN'. He then presented this to Severus with a lopsided grin that looked so much like his mother's (Even with the pollyjuice) that Severus found himself accepting the shirt without protest.

* * *

Harry grinned when Snape accepted the T-shirt. It was kind of an apology for everything. He knew it must be hard for the man to sit and listen to him whining about everything wrong with his life for hours on end but the man never seemed bothered. He didn't even react when Harry started cuddling into him instead of sitting at the other end of the couch. Harry figured that since he was going to end up in the man's arms within an hour anyway he might as well start off there.

When they left the store and walked around London Harry found himself surprised by the man again when he noticed Harry staring at a cuddly toy dragon in the window of a store across the street and dragged Harry over so they could buy it. Once inside the store Harry fell in love with a thumb sized owl keychain by the window which looked just like Hedwig and a two meter long plushy of the boa constrictor from the London zoo.

The man didn't even bat an eyelid at Harry buying a bunch of cuddly toys. In fact, the man picked up a small green snake plushy. At Harry's questioning look the man muttered something about having one just like it as a child.

Harry giggled but didn't comment other than to casually mention that he didn't see anything. Snape laughed lightly and they left the store. Harry had never heard the man laugh before and almost stood in shock but had the sense to keep walking. You did not want to get separated from each other in London. You would never find each other again.

A few stores down from the toy shop was a store named 'Underground'. Upon dragging Snape into the shop Harry was browsing the shelves in delight. He managed to find a pair of trousers and a top to go with his new gothic boots and found a range of t-shirts from a brand named 'spiral'. He guessed his new obsession with gothic clothing had something to do with his mental state but he couldn't be sure.

As they walked Snape stopped outside a phone shop and the two of them went in. Harry whispered to Snape, "Jacob. I thought that things like this didn't work at school?"

Snape shook his head. "No, they work fine. The ministry just doesn't want Muggleborns to know."

Harry nodded and went back to browsing. Snape kept surprising him. Every time he thought he had him figured out the man did something to completely throw him for a loop. Harry had given up being shocked or holding Snape to appearances and decided to just go with the flow. It wasn't as if the man hadn't already shattered his every perception of him.

After about half an hour of looking through the models they eventually found one that they could each use that wasn't so high-tec. They added each other's numbers and topped up on credit, deciding to go with pay as you go since they wouldn't be using them much. The shop next door also sold other electrical devices and Harry bought an I-pod and a tablet.

They walked around London for a while longer before they decided to head back to Snape's house. They eventually found an alleyway and apparated. When they landed, and Harry picked himself up from the floor with a sheepish smile, Harry unpacked all the bags from the muggle world and placed each of the items in his pouch.

Snape handed him a potion and drank an identical one himself. Once they were both back to normal Harry got changed out of the clothes Snape had given him and put on the clothes he had on this morning. He walked into the kitchen and smiled shyly up at Snape.

"Mr Potter. I trust that our... activities today will be kept a secret?"

Harry nodded. "I went with Jacob to his home and we talked all day. Nothing more."

Snape smirked and nodded. "Good. Now, despite your abysmal score in potions, would you perhaps wish to assist me with dinner?"

Harry laughed and grabbed a knife. Within a minute the carrots and potato had been peeled and chopped, the courgette, onion and peppers diced and a clove of garlic peeled and ready for crushing.

Harry looked through his lashes at Snape and found the man gaping at him. "Um... sir?"

"Mr Potter... how did you do that?"

Harry blushed. "Um... I cook a lot for Aunt Petunia..."

Snape narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Enough so you can cut them faster than even I could hope to? Your hands were a blur!"

Harry blushed harder. "I like cooking."

Snape tilted his head to one side. "If you are so good at preparing ingredients for cooking, why are you so bad at potions?"

Harry sighed. "You didn't want me to be good so I held back. It became clearer over time that I was expected to be terrible at potions, top of the class in Defence and bellow average but still passing in everything else. I try not to draw attention to myself by doing something people don't want me to."

"Harry... that is only going to lead you to a life of misery. From now on I want you to try your best in all your classes."

Harry looked up at Snape. Did the man actually care or something? Harry was really confused but nodded anyway. Dinner was cooked and ready in about half an hour thanks to magic and the two of them sat down to eat. After dinner they migrated to Snape's couch and Harry snuggled into the man's arms.

They were silent for a few minutes, just staring into the fireplace and watching the flames dance. Harry sighed and told Snape about the end of his fourth year. He was not ready to mention anything about the graveyard yet and by the time he had finished explaining about everything else it was getting late.

Snape sighed and ran his hand through Harry's hair. "Next week we will either be talking about the graveyard or the summer last year, before the dementor attack."

Harry nodded and sighed. They stayed like that for a few more minutes. Harry was rather comfortable in Snape's arms. Despite being a skinny twig the man was surprisingly ripped and made a comfy pillow.

Snape sighed and rubbed Harry's forearms. "Why did you cut? Was it because of today?"

Harry closed his eyes. He didn't want to lie to the man. It was the least he could do since the man had never lied to him. "No."

Snape rested his chin on Harry's head. "Good. I won't judge you. I would make you promise to never do it again but I know that is a promise you won't be able to keep."

Harry closed his eyes and buried his face in the man's chest. "I'm sorry."

"No you're not. Don't apologise if you don't mean it."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Snape sighed. They had this conversation before.

Harry smiled and breathed in the man's scent. He smelt like potions ingredients, something musky and something that was so purely Snape that there was no denying who's chest his face was buried in. Harry chuckled sleepily. If anyone were to walk in on them they might mistake them for a couple. Harry yawned and basked in the comfort Snape was giving him and the warmth from the fire.

* * *

Severus gently stroked Potter's hair and looked into the fire, thinking about all the boy had told him. When he looked down he was startled to see the boy mostly asleep. A glance at the clock on the mantle revealed it to be nearing eight o'clock. Severus hummed in surprise and quickly got ready to take the boy home. One pollyjuice later and he was carrying Potter out to his car.

The boy was a surprisingly heavy sleeper.

A short drive later and he was shaking Harry awake. He walked by Potter's side, letting physical contact with the boy key him into the blood wards so he could come and go as he pleased. He looked down at the boy. "I will see you next week. Call me if you have any trouble, I will always answer unless I am with Dumbledore or the dark lord."

Potter nodded and hugged the man. "See you next week." Potter pulled away and walked into the house, turning to smile at Severus just before he closed the door.

Once Potter had shut the door, Severus turned and walked back to his car. Potter had left him with a lot to think about so he knew he would not be getting much sleep that night.

Just before he got in his car a woman stopped him. "Excuse me sir, but I can't help but wonder what your interest in the Potter boy is. I'm only asking as a concerned neighbour of course."

Severus smiled at her. "Of course. It is nice that Lord Potter's neighbours would look out for him. My name is Jacob Walker. I am Lord Potter's therapist."

The lady looked taken aback. "Therapist? _Lord _Potter?"

Severus smirked. "I am afraid I am unable to disclose any of my patient's private information. If you wish to know about his status or why he has a therapist you will have to speak to him yourself. Good day." He slipped into the driver's seat and drove away, smirking the whole time.

* * *

Harry lay in his cupboard holding back a moan as pain rippled up his back. Ah... it felt good. So numb. Harry bit his lip and tilted his head to the side. So good.

He fell asleep that night blissfully numb to the world.

When he woke at six the next morning to get everything ready he was glad for the potions. Vernon had been furious that Harry was unable to do his chores. The pain relievers meant he was able to do his chores properly. He had only drunk enough to numb the pain slightly so it was still there, he could still feel it. It helped keep his mind off things. He knew Snape would be thinking something was up but it was more important to Harry to get his chores done so his Uncle wouldn't kill him.

Surprisingly Harry was actually able to get his chores done on time. As he was cooking dinner his mind inevitably turned to Sirius and Cedric. Harry was snapped out of his musings when the smell of something burning hit his nose. He gasped and looked down at the oven where the chicken was mostly carbonised. He quickly got it out the oven but the damage had been done.

He risked a glance towards the living room and saw Vernon standing in the doorway scowling at him. Harry sighed and braced himself for what was to come.

A few hours later he was sitting in his cupboard rubbing some healing potion onto the burns on his hands. He left his back as it was. He couldn't reach anyway. Harry stretched and moaned at the pain in the open wounds in his back. Ah. So good.

He woke up the next morning to find his cupboard locked. Ah, one of those days.

Harry's stomach grumbled but he ignored it. Other than the food Snape had given him, he hadn't eaten since the Hogwarts leaving feast.

Harry took his nutrient potion and looked around the 'room'. He really had nothing to do. The room itself was far too small for Harry. He needed to keep his feet curled up beneath him just to fit inside. Harry sighed and his thoughts turned to Sirius, locked away in Grimmauld place all year. Harry knew that if he had been forced to stay here for a whole year he would have done something rash and stupid as well.

He sighed and pulled one of the books out of his pouch, he lit his wand (Lumos was one of the only spells he could use outside of Hogwarts) and started reading.

It was a book about defensive and offensive spells and when and how to use them. Some of the spells were really interesting. He focused mainly of offence but tried to memorise a few shield charms as well. One he was particularly interested in reflected the spell straight back at the attacker regardless of where they were standing or how the spell hit the shield.

Harry was so engrossed in his book that he nearly didn't hear Vernon get back from work. He stuffed the book and his wand in his pouch and looked at the door to his cupboard. A few moments later the door was unlocked and Harry was thrown into the kitchen. He immediately started cooking dinner and was extra careful not to burn any this time.

After he cooked he was forced into his cupboard again and he pulled out his tablet, may as well explore this. He quickly found out how to access Amazon and created an account, linking it to his trust fund vault at Gringotts. He then realised he could download books as well as games onto his tablet and browsed the sections for a while.

He mostly stuck to horror or fantasy. And found a few that seemed interesting. It would be a good way to occupy himself when studying spells got boring and he couldn't sleep.

When Harry woke the next morning he found the cupboard door unlocked and set to make breakfast. He managed to stop himself thinking about Sirius or Cedric while he was doing his chores buy running over all the spells in the book he read last night.

This more or less set the tone for the rest of the week. He would get up, make breakfast for the Dursleys, occupy himself doing chores and mentally running over incantations and wand movements, make dinner, get punished for some offence or another, get locked in his cupboard and spend the night reading spell books.

On Friday night Vernon gave him permission to use his 'freakishness' to hide his injuries before beating Harry to near unconsciousness. Harry ended up drinking two healing potions and blood replenishers that night before downing a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Severus was worried. Over the last week Potter had used a lot of healing potions and blood replenishers. The pain relief potions had gone down a little and Potter had drank all three of his allowed dreamless sleep potions. He was going to meet up with Potter in a little while. He just needed to bottle a potion and take the phials up to Poppy and he would leave.

Perhaps if he took Potter out somewhere? The boy seemed to enjoy shopping last week. There were lots of things to do in London and with the modified pollyjuice no one would know who they were. It would give the boy a chance to get out and be a child.

It was worth thinking about.

* * *

Harry sat on the couch staring out the window. Snape would be here any minute. Harry huffed. He hated waiting. He just wanted to get out of this hell hole and into some real company. He jumped up when the red car pulled into the driveway. He ran to the door and pulled it open, barely remembering to shut it behind him on the way out. He ran down the path and threw his arms around Snape's neck.

Without questioning him, Snape wrapped his arms around Harry's waist and they stood there for a moment before Harry pulled away and slid round to the passenger seat. When they were both strapped in Snape started the car and drove away.

"What was that, Mr Potter?"

Harry sighed and slouched back against the seat. "I... I've been feeling pretty down this week. I... I guess... I've had a though week."

Snape hummed. "If you ever feel like doing anything stupid, Mr Potter, I hope you have enough sense to call me first."

Harry nodded and smiled before drifting off to sleep, mumbling a 'thank you' just as he drifted off.

Severus looked worriedly at the boy in the passenger seat. He was far too thin to be healthy. He looked like he hadn't eaten in a week.

No.

Surely not.

Petunia wouldn't...

Severus sighed. Actually... she would... oh he hoped that bitch wasn't starving the poor boy.

* * *

Harry blinked his eyes open and found himself staring out the window onto Snape's driveway. He smiled and stretched before getting out the car. He followed Snape into the house and happily followed the man into the kitchen.

Snape already had breakfast ready and Harry happily sat down and began eating, after taking his nutrient potion. He started tapping away at his phone, trying to figure out what each of the buttons did. He had mostly figured out the tablet but he wanted to figure out the phone soon. When he looked at his plate he was shocked to realise he had somehow eaten all of it without even realising.

He was even more shocked when Snape laughed. "That was your second serving. I am glad you are eating so much." He sobered and narrowed his eyes. "You look like you have lost a lot of weight."

Harry turned his head away and the two of them made their way into the sitting room. Harry snuggled into Snape and started telling him about the summer before his fifth year, omitting a lot of it. He was not ready to talk about the Dursleys. He choked up a few times talking about Sirius, just as he had done telling Snape of the few encounters he had with the man before that year.

When he finished talking about the train journey and the opening feast at Hogwarts they lapsed into a comfortable silence. After the silence stretched on Snape stood up. "Lunch?"

Harry nodded and they headed into the kitchen.

* * *

Severus sighed inwardly. Why did it seem that everyone had failed this boy at every turn? Was he doomed to live a life of betrayal as Severus himself did?

Severus shook his head. He would have to make it up to the boy somehow. He thought back to the plushy snake Potter had bought. Wasn't it an image of one of the ones at the London zoo? That would give them something to do. He looked up at Potter. "Would you like to go to the zoo after lunch, Potter?"

He smirked as Potter stared at him like he had grown a second head. Potter eventually gathered himself. "Um...Y-Yeah I would like that. Um... thanks, sir."

Severus inclined his head. "It is no trouble. I think both of us would like it if we spent some of our time together doing something other than talk."

* * *

Harry felt a led weight settle in his stomach. So, Snape was tired of him after all. He should have known better than to think anyone would actually want to listen to him bitch and moan about so many little things.

Snape seemed to notice the look. "What's with that face Potter? We don't have to go to the zoo if you don't want to."

Harry shook his head. "No, I do. I just... I'm sorry... to keep whining at you all the time. I-"

"Potter. Stop. You don't whinge. If anything I have to keep prodding you to tell me more. I want to help you, Harry. And to do that I need to listen to what you say and help you find a way to overcome that. For most of the little things you work them out yourself, talking about them to me helps you better understand the situation and overcome what you went through."

Harry looked down. "You just said-"

Snape stood up sharply and walked over to Harry. "Harry. I just mean that if this strange friendship between us is going to continue then you and I need to spend some time not being therapist and patent but being two people who are spending time together. I want to help you Harry. I want you to complain to me about every little thing that has ever gone wrong in your life. It is the whole reason we are doing this."

Harry blushed and nodded. "Okay..."

Snape smirked and stood up. "Now, are we going to finish lunch or are we going to the zoo now?"

Harry looked at his plate. If he ate too much he would only be hungrier later when he got nothing. "I'm not really hungry..."

Snape smiled sadly and nodded. "Go get changed out of those rags then and I'll get your pollyjuice."

Harry laughed and quickly went into the bathroom to put on a spiral shirt with a dragon on it along with his new gothic trousers and boots. When he came back in all Snape did was roll his eyes and hand him a potion.

* * *

Severus cursed and smacked himself in the head when Potter left to get changed. Ugh, why did he keep messing things up today? Potter is not just a student, he is a student in a bad place who tried to end his own life a little over a month ago. Of course he would take him saying 'doing something other than talk' to mean that he was annoyed by the boy 'complaining'.

From what Potter had told him about how the teachers at school handle it when he tries to tell anyone of a situation, it's no wonder. Everyone keeps turning him away, pushing him to the side and then turning to him when things get rough.

The boy was in a bad place. Severus would have to be more careful from now on so he didn't mess up again. He might not be able to afford the slip up. Potter's life was in his hands.

He cursed again when he realised he had called the boy's clothes 'rags'.

Ugh. What was wrong with him today?

Severus was worried though. The boy looked like he hadn't eaten in a week. It was worse than last week. Does he eat anything? Wait... was he bulimic? Or maybe purging anorexic? Oh that would be bad. Most likely the latter if he did have some kind of eating disorder.

How would he confront the boy on it though?

And that was only if Petunia wasn't starving the boy. He kind of hoped she was since it would be a better option than Potter having an eating disorder. It was easier to fix.

Severus looked up as Potter came into the room wearing his gothic outfit. Severus rolled his eyes and handed him the pollyjuice. It was no surprise that the boy would wear clothing like that. Teens often used clothes as a way of expressing their feelings and emotions. Black gothic clothing often symbolised some kind of emotional turmoil.

He shook his head. Enough psychoanalysing the boy. That was for their therapy sessions. He drank his own pollyjuice and led Potter out to his car. He noticed that someone had put a tracer on his car and that there was a disillusioned someone across the street. Severus thanked Merlin that his house was charmed so no one could see into the windows.

* * *

Harry got into the car and smiled. His smiled got wider the closer they got to the zoo. By the time they got there Harry was practically shaking. He leapt out the car and only waited long enough for Snape to lock it up before dragging the man to the entrance. He probably looked weird, dressed in goth but grinning like a loon.

He really didn't care.

After paying the entry fee Harry and Snape went all around the zoo. At one point he looked over and saw a woman and six children wearing hi-viz jackets with some writing on the back. They were easy to see in the swarms of other people, the bright colour stood out...

"Oh!"

Snape looked down at him. "What is it, Leon?" Harry inclined his head towards the woman and children. "The lady with the bright jacket?"

Harry nodded. "I just figured out why Dumbledore wears such obnoxiously bright clothing."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with the lady in the jacket?"

Harry grinned. "The school uniform is black, there is very little colour on it. Most of the teachers wear dull or dark colours. Dumbledore wears such bright colours all the time it makes him stand out, everyone looks over and sees him. They all know he's there. It practically screams 'pay attention to me!'"

Snape's eyebrows shot into his hair line. "That makes sense. I would never have thought of it like that."

Harry grinned and turned back to the giraffe right as it leant over the bars and promptly sneezed on Snape's head. Harry laughed so hard he had stitches. Snape was not amused at first but chuckled after a while.

Towards the end of the day Harry dragged the man into the reptile house. In no time at all he had found the Boa tank. He walked up to it. "_Hola amigo._"

The snake looked up. "_Amigo? Hey, long time no see. How have you been Chika?_"

Harry laughed. "_Not good, really. I thought you were on your way to Brazil?_" Harry would have told the snake he was fine but he had found out years ago that it was impossible to lie in Parseltongue.

"_Si, si, amigo. But the zoo keepers caught me before I could leave. It's a shame though. I was hoping to meet you again_."

Harry smiled. "_Yes, I had been wanting to see you as well. Unfortunately I haven't been able to. How is life here? As boring as before_?"

"_Si, si, amigo. But, I get more food now. It is still dull here though, day after day, doing nothing but lie here while people tap on my cage and disturb my sleep. I wish I could get out of here_."

Harry nodded. "_I completely understand. Living with the Dursleys makes me feel like that too._"

The snake nodded. "_Si. You said so when we first met, remember? You were only a little hatchling then. About... ah... six of your years_?"

Harry's eyes widened and he nodded. "_Oh, yeah! I remember that! I can't believe I forgot... the Dursleys left me in the car while they went to a nice restaurant. I snuck out the car and came here. I came into the reptile house because it was cool and it was really hot outside_."

The boa nodded. "_Si. I remember how shocked we both were when we realised you could understand me and speak in the language of snakes_."

Harry nodded and laughed.

* * *

Severus stared at Potter. He cast a discreet charm that would cause anyone standing nearby to pay no attention to the conversation. It would do no good if any of the muggles in the room were to hear the boy speaking Parseltongue. He listened in fascination.

The sound was so different from when the dark lord spoke. His was harsh, cold and cruel. Even the loving caresses he gave Nagini sounded like a harsh curse. It sent cold shivers down your spine and made you want nothing more than to run as far and as fast as you could.

Potter's was so different. It spoke of hardship, longing, and a gentleness so profound that Severus found himself mesmerised. It was like a gentle stream babbling in a brook. It made him feel warm and loved but also sad. It made him want to protect Potter with everything he had.

How could the same language sound so different when coming from two different people?

Seeing Potter so at ease with the snake made him want to get Potter a pet one but he knew that a snake requires a lot of care and time. Potter would have neither soon, with the war going on.

The look on Potter's face nearly broke his resolve. As Potter turned glanced at him and smiled before turning back to the snake and carried on speaking to him Severus found himself wanting more and more to buy _that_ snake, and see the look of happiness of Potter's face. He shook his head. No. Nope. He was not buying Potter a Boa Constrictor.

* * *

Harry smiled at the snake "_So what's you name anyway_?"

The snake grinned at Harry. "_The people here call me Constance but I prefer to go by Raymondo, Ray for short. What about you amigo? What is your name_?"

Harry grinned back. "_My name is Harry. It's nice to properly meet you, Ray_."

Ray bobbed his head up and down. The two of them talked for a while, Ray telling Harry of the different people he had seen and the different snakes he had met. Harry told Ray about the Dursleys, since Ray would not let up on asking and Harry couldn't tell a lie in Parseltongue.

In the end, Snape had to interrupt their conversation and tell Harry it was closing time. Harry bid Ray goodbye and followed Snape out of the zoo. They stopped by the gift shop on the way out, since the exit was through the gift shop, and Snape bought Harry a large stuffed lion. Harry laughed and carried it back to the car without shame.

* * *

Severus smiled at Potter, his arm wrapped around the boy's waist. He knew that the Order member was still following them he glanced at them just before removing the tracking spell on his car and getting it. He drove away before they had a chance to do anything else.

He smirked. So, they knew that the person with him was Potter in disguise. The pollyjuice was of someone about Potter's age.

He focused on the road. Perhaps if the order thought that Potter was being preyed on by an old man they might be willing to collect him sooner... it would be worth a shot. Potter would be happier at the burrow, instead of with the Dursleys. The boy was clearly suffering.

Perhaps he might even consider taking the boy himself. Let the order panic about it until the start of the new school year.

He grinned. The look on Albus' face would be priceless.

* * *

After stopping at Snape's house to get changed again and eat some dinner, Harry found himself back on the Dursley's doorstep. He sighed and turned to Snape. He surprised both of them by giving the man a hug. "Thank you. For... for being here. No one else has cared before."

Harry then pulled away and smiled up at his professor.

Snape smirked. "Now, don't forget. You have your optician's appointment on Wednesday. Do you want me to take you?"

Harry shook his head. He put his professor to enough bother without having to look after him more. "I'll be fine. Do you have any spare vials of pollyjuice?"

Snape nodded and pulled four vials out of his pocket. "You will need to change back for the appointment, only do so once the room is locked and warded. The optician will not tell anyone about you, it would break his vows." Harry looked curiously at him for a moment so Snape elaborated. "Everyone who works in healing, no matter the branch takes certain vows, these vows prevent us from intentionally causing harm to another living creature, allowing a living creature to come to harm, killing anything or giving out private information our clients or patients told us in confidence."

Harry tilted his head to one side. "What kind of professions need to take those vows?"

Snape smirked. "Aside from Healers, medi-witches, medi-wizards and midwives, there are also potions masters, opticians, dentists, alchemists and chiropractors and many others besides. Anyone who is supposed to heal or provide something to heal."

Harry tilted his head. "Why potions masters?"

Snape smirked. "In order to gain your mastery in potions you need to at least be a licensed medi-wizard if not a fully qualified healer."

Harry nodded. "Oh, alright. That makes sense, potions explode sometimes."

Snape nodded. "Indeed. Now, I believe you should be heading inside. I will see you next week."

Harry nodded and hugged the man again before quickly heading into the house, turning to smile at the man before closing the door.

* * *

Severus watched as Potter pulled away and entered the house. He sat in the driver's seat of his car for a few moments before deciding he would rather think back at home.

Sitting on his couch and nursing a glass of scotch Severus thought about all of what Potter had told him and about the way Potter acted.

There was something that spoke of a deeper pain. Severus shook his head. No use dwelling on it. Potter would tell him eventually. Maybe.

* * *

It occurred to me to explain a few things.

The reason Harry opened up to Snape so easily was that the first night, after he had been found, he thought he was hallucinating so he had no problem just talking like he does with Hedwig. He heard Dumbledore talking to Snape and Snape lying about where he was so Harry thought he might extend a bit of trust to the man.

The reason Snape is so OOC is because he is a complicated man, he puts on so many different masks I sometimes wonder if _he_ knows who he really is. In this story Severus, Professor Snape, Death Eater Snape and Jacob Walker are all different masks. Severus Snape is who Severus really is, Professor Snape is the bastard potions teacher who heavily favours slytherins and hates Gryffindor and spies on Voldy for Dumbles, Death Eater Snape is the man who enjoys causing pain in others and is spying on Dumbles for Voldy.

Jacob walker is parts of Severus' real personality mixed with more care and affection than he would normally show anyone due to his experiences. The more time he spends as Jacob the more he relaxes and is able to find out what parts of himself are masks and what is the real him. this is also the mask he uses (minus the pollyjuice) when talking with his abused snakes.

If any of you have any questions about the story, leave it in a review and I will answer it at the beginning of the next chapter. If you want more frequent updates then there is a poll on my profile, story in first place gets updated every two weeks, other's get updated once a month until I can finish my course at college and have more free time. This allows me to actually be able to write this many stories at once, plus I'm re-writing the Power of Shadows since I hate the version I have up at the moment.

Please Review/Favourite/Follow/ any combination of them.

Your love helps me write faster.


	4. Chapter 4

SURPISE CHAPTER!

It's my 21st today so chapters all around!

* * *

Harry sat in his cupboard. He had already read through each of the books he got from his vault and so he was reading some of the books on his tablet. He was really into this one at the moment about a boy who could see through other people's eyes. 'The coming of dragons' by A.J Lake. It was rather soft in comparison to some of the other books he had bought.

Harry looked at his wrist and traced the thin scars. So much had changed from such a small incident... he had decided to clear up the mirror instead of leaving it like it was, that had lead to him being injured and found by Professor Snape, which lead to all of this...

Harry suddenly remembered the optician appointment he had tomorrow. He climbed out his cupboard and went in search of Uncle Vernon. He winced at the pain in his back.

He found the man quickly, as he was sitting in the living room, enjoying his evening. "Um... Uncle Vernon?"

Vernon turned and glared at Harry. "What do you want, Freak?"

"I have an opticians appointment tomorrow. You don't need to take me or pay for anything. I just thought you should know." Harry turned back around and curled up in his cupboard.

He felt a buzzing in his pocket and pulled out his phone. Opening it up he saw a text message from Snape. '**Want to go ice skating after lunch on Saturday?**'

Harry texted back. '**I've never been before**'

'**Me neither. First time for everything though right?**'

Harry chuckled. '**Ok. I would love to**'

Harry smiled and read Snape's reply. '**I will see you Saturday.**'

Harry put his phone away and picked his tablet back up.

* * *

Severus put his phone in his pocket and stared worriedly at the stock of potions. It looked like Potter had cut a few times. He knew something must be upsetting the boy for him to carve himself up like that but at least he wasn't trying to kill himself. The necklace had been charmed so it would take Potter to the Prince property in London and alert Severus should he ever lose consciousness from injury.

He sighed. He hoped that by providing Potter with those potions he wasn't enabling the boy.

* * *

Harry glanced at the clock. He nodded and turned to Petunia. "I have to leave for my optician's appointment. See you when I get back." He walked quickly down the street. When he found an alleyway he slid in and drank the pollyjuice. He quickly pulled his dad's cloak out of his pouch and hid under it while he changed into something better suited for the wizarding world. He took the cloak off and stuffed it in his bag before stepping out of the alley.

He quickly summoned the nightbus and paid the fare. Once he was sat down the bus jerked into motion, Harry barely managed to avoid crashing sideways into the lady sitting next to him. Harry stared out the window, watching the scenery blur past. Most of the stops seemed to be picking people up. When they stopped at the entrance to St Mungo's a lot of the people got off. A few stops later and they arrived in front of the leaky cauldron and most of the people still on the bus got off.

It was still early enough that most people were just beginning to arrive at the shops or the hospital to visit friends or relatives.

Harry got off with the flow of people and walked with the crowd into the alley. He looked down and grinned. It was so good being able to walk in a crowd without everyone staring at him.

It didn't take him long to get to the opticians. When he opened the door a little bell jingled above him. He looked up and smiled at the little silver bell above the door. It was old fashioned and muggle but it created a quaint and relaxed kind of atmosphere. He looked around the room and after a moment a man came out of the back room. "Ah, Leon. Hello, welcome. I was just preparing the back room. Would you mind flipping the sign on the door for me?"

Harry turned around and flipped the sign so it read closed and walked towards the back room. He stood in the doorway and watched Mr Fovea set the room up. He stood up strait and turned to Harry who stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. A wave of Mr Fovea's wand and the room was locked and warded.

Harry looked through his lashes up at the man. "You really won't tell anyone who I am or that I was here at all?"

The man nodded. "It is all part of the oath of confidentiality."

Harry nodded and drank the antidote to the pollyjuice. He blinked owlishly at the man as his vision returned to normal and he wasn't wearing his glasses. Harry saw a blurry Mr Fovea walk over and guide Harry to the bed. Harry lay himself down on it and squinted at the bright light above him.

Mr Fovea stood next to Harry but he couldn't see what the man was doing. "Mr Potter. This operation is going to be extremely painful. In order for it to work properly you will need to keep your eyes open the whole time but no one can go that long without blinking so I will be using a spell to keep your eyes open and moistened. I will also need to use a paralysis charm to freeze your head in place. This light here will be working with the spell to help your eyes. Is this okay?"

Harry took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. That's fine. We're in a war. I need to be able to see without my glasses. I can't have such a huge weakness."

The blur made a movement Harry thought might be nodding. "Are you ready to get started?"

Harry nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be." He tensed when Mr Fovea paralysed his neck and angled his head where he needed it to be. He felt his eyes widen against his will and stay wide open. The light in the room went out and the light above him was shone his eyes.

"Now, this will start to tingle a little bit but it will get steadily more painful. It will take two hours to complete the process. Are you sure you still want to go through with this?"

"Yes." Harry braced himself and a slight tickling started in his eyes. Mr Fovea struck up a conversation about Quidditch. Harry knew it was to distract him.

Over the next hour the pain began to build. At the end of the first hour Mr Fovea said, "That's one hour, only one hour left. The pain should stop building now, it will be steady for about the next half hour and then it will get better." Harry gave a thumbs up and carried on what he had been saying about the match in his third year, with the dementor. After half an hour Mr Fovea spoke up again telling him that he only had a half hour left. Harry gave him another thumbs up and changed the conversation to Hedwig.

After the last half hour Mr Fovea cancelled his charms and helped Harry sit up. He performed a few spells to test Harry's new eyesight and ran a few tests with the light in the room. Once he was happy with Harry's vision he slowly turned the lights up. Once Harry had stopped blinking owlishly at the brightness he was surprised at just how clear everything was.

"Whoa."

Mr Fovea smiled. "That is what everyone says."

Harry grinned. "It's weird though... even when I was using pollyjuice, as both of the people I have been, my vision wasn't this clear..."

Mr Fovea nodded. "That is one of the benefits of the charm. We don't tell anyone about it until after they've done it and I encourage you not to tell anyone else either. It enhanced your vision to just beyond that of a normal human and the effects will last your whole life, so your vision won't deteriorate with old age like some other people."

Harry nodded. "Cool. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

Mr Fovea smiled. "Good. You handled that remarkably well. Most people cry or scream in pain."

Harry shrugged. "Once you've been held under the cruciatus, nothing is as painful as it was before." Harry glanced away at the pitying look Mr Fovea gave him before he hopped off the bed. "Don't give me that look." He drank the pollyjuice and walked into the main room. "Is there any chance I can get fake lenses for these?" he held up his glasses.

Mr Fovea grinned. "I can do one better." he took the glasses off Harry and walked around the desk. He placed them on it before reaching under and pulling out two disks of glass and a knife. He waved his wand over the two bits of glass and taped one before tapping one of the lenses for his glasses and then doing the same with the other one. The two bits of glass reshaped to look exactly like the lenses of Harry's glasses. The man carefully switched the lenses over and motioned to Harry to come over. "I need you to prick your finger with this and let one drop of blood fall on each of these lenses. Then tap each one with your wand."

Harry nodded and carefully reached for the knife. He pricked his finger and held his hand over his glasses, following Mr Fovea's instructions.

The lenses glowed brightly and the blood soaked into them, leaving no trace it was there in the first place. Mr Fovea grinned. "There you go. To you, the lenses will be dummies, to anyone else, they will be the same as your old prescription. No one will find out you got the surgery just by putting your glasses on."

Harry ginned and put the glasses in his pouch, before paying for both the surgery and the lenses. "Thanks for this."

Mr Fovea smiled. "Not a problem at all, Leon. Good day to you."

Harry inclined his head. "Good day to you as well, Mr Fovea." Harry turned and walked out the store, flipping the sign as he did so. He spotted an order member in the alley, watching the store. He rolled his eyes and headed to the clothes shop. He needed some new underwear and there was no way he was buying it with Snape there.

* * *

Severus picked up his phone when he heard it vibrating on the counter, where it was plugged in charging. '**Appointment went fine, I can see now. Back home.**'

Snape smiled. '**Thank you for the update, I was wondering how it went.**'

'**Thanks for caring**'

Severus smiled sadly at his phone and quickly typed back, '**Always**' before putting it down. Potter should not be so happy that someone cared about him. He really needed someone to help him out of the dark place he had been pushed into. Maybe he should see about seeing Potter every day and still having their therapy sessions once a week.

It was worth a shot.

He would talk to Potter about it on Saturday.

* * *

Harry sat on the couch in the sitting room waiting for Snape. He could hardly wait to go ice skating. He had never been before but one of the girls in his primary school had gone a few times and was always going on about how fun it was.

Harry leapt up with a huge grin when he saw Snape's car pull up and he raced out to meet him. A quick hug later and he was sitting in the seat practically vibrating in excitement. Snape laughed and drove off. When they got to his house they went inside and had breakfast. After breakfast Snape led Harry over to the couch.

Harry snuggled into the man's warmth and smiled. As they sat in silence Harry was surprised when Snape was the one to start the conversation off. "What was so bad this week that you had to cut so much?"

Harry sighed and shook his head.

Snape sighed and rested his chin on Harry's head.

Harry sighed. "I really need to talk about them don't I?"

Snape nodded. "It will help."

Harry took a shuddering breath. He started telling Snape about the last part of the third task, since he had skipped over this part and refused to talk about the graveyard at all. "When I answered the sphinx' riddle, I guess it was some kind of clue as to what I would be facing... there was an Acromantula there. I was running down the corridor and Cedric... he came from a side passage... he was ahead of me... I saw the spider before he did... I shouted to him and he dodged it but he dropped his wand..."

Harry's breath shuddered and he closed his eyes, opening them quickly afterwards when the image of what happened showed clearly behind the closed lids. He slowly explained what had happened. About the spider biting his leg, about the pain of the fall, how he convinced Cedric to take the cup when the boy was telling him to take it. He told about how Cedric had helped him stand and they both took the cup.

Harry swallowed and told Snape about the graveyard. Not the way he told it to Skeeter. He told Snape about how scarred he was, how shocked he was about Cedric dying, the pain of the ritual, everything.

When he finished Snape let him cry in silence for a few minutes before doing anything. "Did you know the cup was a portkey?"

"No. Neither of us did."

"Did you know where you were when you landed?"

"No."

"Did you know who would be there?"

"No."

"Was there anything you could have done to help Cedric when the dark lord told Wormtail to kill him?"

"Yes. I could have pushed him out the way, or got in the way or something."

Snape smiled sadly down at Harry. "From what you told me you were kneeling on the floor with your eyes tightly closed, both hands on your head and vomiting from the excruciating pain in your head. You were barely able to move let alone pay attention to what was going on around you. There was nothing you could have done."

Harry shook his head. "No... I... I could have..."

Snape hugged Harry's head into his chest. "There was nothing you could have done."

Harry sobbed and turned his head into the man's chest. A few minutes later he was sobbing uncontrollably when the realisation finally hit home, over a year too late.

_It wasn't his fault._

* * *

Severus carefully folded the thick pair of trousers in his hands and placed them in Potter's rucksack along with Potter's clothes. A shirt and jumper quickly followed. He then went to the kitchen and transfigured three glasses into thermos flasks and filled one with tea, one with coffee and one with the soup he and Potter had made a few minutes ago.

It was a winter vegetable soup, slightly spicy and very good for warming you up. They had both eaten lunch already and Potter was now taking a shower. The boy had finally come to terms with what happened to Diggory. Severus knew it would be a while before he got the mental image of the dark lord naked out of his mind.

The alarm on his floo in Spinners end flared up and Severus rushed to the bathroom door. "Potter, someone is floo calling my other home, it might be Albus! I'll be back when I can!"

"Okay! See you later!"

Severus apparated to spinners end and answered the floo. He glared down at the wrinkled face in the fire. "Albus. What can I do for you?"

The headmaster looked worriedly up at Severus. "Severus, my boy. I need you to come through to HQ for a moment. Please."

Severus nodded and waited until the headmaster had retreated from the fire before stepping through into Grimmauld place. He grimaced in disgust and sat at the table in his usual seat. He sat through the order meeting inwardly laughing when he realised they actually thought Potter was being prayed on by a fifty year old man. He was somewhat displeased that Weasley and Granger were here. He knew that neither of them had written to Potter at all this summer.

Finally he told Albus that he had nothing to say since the dark lord was keeping to himself and the meeting was drawn to a close. He quickly apparated back home. "Harry! I'm back!"

"In the kitchen!"

He walked through to the kitchen and smirked at what he saw.

* * *

Harry stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. Snape had left a few minutes ago and Harry was enjoying a nice long shower. He ran his knuckles over his ribs and noticed that the dips in between them were now big enough that he could lay one of his fingers inside one and his finger would be flush with the outer edge of his ribs.

He sighed and got dressed. He knew they would be putting warmer clothes on once they got there since it was hot today and they didn't want to dress too warmly before they got there but they didn't want to be cold when they were there.

His stomach growled at him despite having only had lunch recently so he decided to do some baking. He rarely ever got to bake. He went into the kitchen and got out all the ingredients he would need. He set to baking some muffins. When they were done he decided to top them with some butter icing. He found the icing sugar up on the top shelf and stood on tiptoes to reach for it. He had nearly reached it when he slipped and knocked it down. The box tipped over and the bag fell out, spilling white powder everywhere.

Unfortunately the icing sugar was also next to the food colouring which also fell down, staining Harry a nice rainbow of colours and turning the soft powder into a sticky goop.

If it couldn't get worse he heard a crack from the front room and Snape calling out. He sighed in resignation and looked up at the man through his lashes. Snape stood in the doorway, smiled and then promptly burst into laughter.

Harry huffed and waited for the man to finish. When he finally calmed down he used a cleaning charm and cleaned Harry up. Harry huffed and stared at the floor. "I'm sorry..."

Snape chuckled and walked over, ruffling Harry's hair on the way past. "You have nothing to apologise for. I will simply go and buy some more tomorrow. I need to go shopping anyway. I'm running out of food. Now, how about we taste test some of those lovely looking muffins you baked then?"

Harry grinned and picked up two, passing one to Snape. Snape bit into it and nodded. "This is good." Harry nodded and nibbled at his own. Snape took another bite and closed his eyes, making a sound of appreciation. "Chocolate chips?"

Harry nodded. "Some have chocolate chips, some have fruit... this one is blueberry."

Snape nodded. "That explains why it's purple."

Harry nodded. "You only had frozen ones. They turn the muffin purple. Fresh ones don't."

Snape blinked at Harry in surprise. "Huh... I didn't know that."

Harry nodded. "Not many people do."

Once they had finished their muffins and Harry had placed the others in a tub to stop them going stale the two of them went out to the car. Snape summoned Harry's bag and they both drank a pollyjuice before they left and the two of them climbed in before Snape started the engine.

Harry managed to stay awake this time and grinned as he looked at the passing scenery. They got lost a few times but in the end they got there in good time.

They got out the car and went into the rink. Anyone looking at them thought they were father and son. The two of them both acted like it too. No one thought any different, except for the order member watching from the stands. He saw an old man preying on a young innocent boy.

Harry lay on the floor for a moment before bursting into laughter. Snape, who was on the floor next to him, joined in seconds later. They both pushed themselves to their feet and slid the last few feet to the door to the bathroom. They were able to walk on the rubber floor with their skates and managed to get back up onto the ice without issue.

A few more laps around the rink and Harry was sure he had gotten the hang of it. He grinned when he saw a small child help Snape to his feet. It was always amusing to see an eight year old skate better than a nearly fifty year old man. They skated for a few hours before they had a brake to drink some soup and the tea and coffee Snape had packed.

Harry chuckled when he realised the order member was sitting beside him. He turned to Snape. "I'm glad you brought me here, Jacob. This is the most fun I've had in a while."

Snape smiled down at him. It seemed the man was only capable of smiling with a face that wasn't his own. "You know it's no trouble. I enjoy bringing you out to places. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out more, instead of only once a week. There is so much to do in London. There is so much I could show you."

Harry smiled and leant against the man briefly in a hug-that-was-not-a-hug. "I would like that. I like being with you. You make me feel like I actually matter."

Snape sighed and titled Harry's head up by the chin. "Leon... Harry... you _do_ matter. To a lot of people. Me especially. I care about you a lot. More than you know."

Harry blushed and ducked his head. "Thank you, Jacob... I... um... thanks..."

They finished their soup quickly and got back on the ice. They only stopped when it was time for the rink to close for the day. They changed back into their clothes and left. Harry looked out the window. He had a lot of fun today. It felt nice to be able to relax like that.

Undoubtedly he would be in a lot of pain later but it would be worth it. He closed his eyes briefly and the next thing he knew he was being shaken awake on Snape's driveway. He stretched and went into the house with him. They made dinner quickly and Harry sighed when they finished and it was time for him to go back to privet drive.

When they pulled up Snape turned to Harry. "I will see you tomorrow then? I have to go shopping in the morning but I will be by shortly after lunch."

Harry grinned. "Yeah, okay. See you tomorrow."

Snape looked at Harry's bag. "The order member with us today put a tracking charm on the bag."

Harry smirked. "We'll leave it for now. Let them think we don't know it's there."

Snape grinned and Harry grinned back. He hugged the man and went into the house. Petunia glared at him. "I have my book club round tomorrow. You had better stay out of our way."

Harry smirked. "Jacob is coming to collect me tomorrow, after lunch. I don't know what he's planning."

Petunia sneered at him and Harry walked past her, settling in his cupboard.

* * *

Severus settled on his couch with a glass of scotch. This was good. He couldn't remember the last time he had had this much fun. Certainly before he ruined his friendship with Lily. He sighed and reclined in his chair. He grinned when he pictured the looks on everyone's faces when they realised the mix up. Potter thought they knew 'Jacob' was his councillor and everyone else thought 'Jacob' was a paedophile, leeching on Harry.

He chuckled. It would be too entertaining to not watch.

He finished off his scotch before going upstairs, pulling on his new t-shirt and a loose pair of grey jogging bottoms before climbing into bed.

He would figure out where to go with Potter tomorrow.

* * *

The next chapters of all my stories may take a while as I find it difficult to work on my mum's computer and my laptop took a flight down the stairs so I have to wait for it to come back.

It may be a while.

Please leave a review or fave or follow this story and if you want more there is a poll on my profile as to which one will be my main focus. Not What it Seems actually gets more views than Judgement but the feedback I'm getting suggests more people like Judgement.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry woke in the morning and cooked breakfast for the Dursleys. He did a few of his morning chores before the doorbell started ringing. He let Aunt Petunia's book club in one by one as they arrived and made sure to serve drinks and refreshments. They were all sat down and enjoying tea and gossip when the doorbell rang again. Harry answered it.

It was a very noble looking gentleman in his early thirties. He was wearing a very expensive looking suit. "Lord Potter? My name is Alexander King. I work in the liaison office of the bank. I am here with the audit of your accounts."

Harry grinned and nodded. "Come in, we can talk in the kitchen." Harry closed the door behind the man and led him through the sitting room. "Aunt Petunia, this is Mr Alexander King. He is here to talk to me about my accounts. We'll just be in the kitchen." he turned but before he could leave the room one of the lady's spoke up.

"Is it _true_ that _Potter _here is a _Lord_?"

Harry inclined his head to Mr King who nodded back and turned to the lady. "Yes, it is quite true. Lord Potter holds not only a lordship from the Potter title but also as an inheritance from his godfather he is now Lord of Black and the ninth Earl of Wellborn."

Harry nodded and gestured the man to follow him into the kitchen, ignoring the gossiping women who went mysteriously quiet when they left the room. Undoubtedly they were eavesdropping. When the man made a motion to cast a silencing charm Harry shook his head. The man nodded and they settled at the kitchen table. "Now then, Lord Potter, let's run over your money first, then we'll move on to the properties you own, then the non-liquid assets and finally your stocks and investments."

Harry nodded his head and listened to Mr King explaining everything. He was honestly shocked by all he heard. He grinned when he was told that he owned all the houses on privet drive (there was a flurry of whispers from the other room at that). As it turned out, everyone here had been paying him rent except the Dursleys who had only been paying rent while he was at school. So that was one of the reasons why Vernon didn't want him to go to school.

Harry read up on the investments and told the liaison to get him some more stocks in the daily prophet since he owned half of them now anyway, it would be good if he could own that worthless gossip rag. He also made investments in the Nimbus and Bolt companies and Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. In the muggle world he placed investments in Apple, Mac, Windows and Microsoft.

He signed a few documents and read a few more before smiling and he and Mr King stood up. He held the documents in his hands as he showed Mr King to the door. "Thank you for coming. I much prefer to speak to someone in person about my accounts rather than leaving it up to the postal service."

The man nodded. "I am sure. Good day to you, Lord Potter."

"And to you Mr King." Harry showed the man out and placed the documents from the bank in his pouch. He quietly dashed upstairs and put his trunk in the pouch. He didn't know why but he had the feeling he would need to be packed and ready.

He went back into the kitchen and made lunch. He was only allowed to eat because the book club was here. He stood reclining against the wall and speaking to the gossiping women whenever they asked him a question.

"So, how come you are a Lord then Potter? I thought your parents were unemployed drunkards?" "Yes, and I heard your mother was a street whore and they only got married because she got herself knocked up?"

Harry shook his head. There was no way he was letting all these people think badly about his parents. "My mother had been selected to attend a highly prestigious boarding school in Scotland. She and my father met there. My father was the sole heir of a very well off and noble family. We can trace our roots back several thousand years. After they left school my father joined the police force. He rose through the ranks very quickly, not because of his money I assure you. He was just very good at his job."

"Oh really, then how did they die?"

Uh oh. Quick! More lies! "My father made a lot of enemies. One of them was a mafia boss who went by the name Voldemort. An anagram of his real name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, anagrams into 'I am lord Voldemort'. He called his 'followers' the 'deatheaters'. He sounds like a bad movie villain but I assure you he is quite real. He attacked our house on Halloween, 1981. Both my parents were killed. My mother did something to him though. No one knows what but he hadn't been seen for thirteen years. He came back last year. Killed a boy in my school. Everyone is trying to keep it hush hush of course."

"Why tell everyone now when you've been telling lies all this time?"

Harry panicked slightly. He knew he would get the beating of his lifetime if he made the Dursleys look bad. "It was for my safety as well as that of my family. Since I was a baby at the time we didn't want anyone knowing where I had been placed so Aunt Petunia made up the cover story to deter anyone trying to get revenge for their fallen master."

He ended up spending a few more minutes answering questions, 'yes he did go to the same school as his parents', 'no he was not a delinquent', 'if they wanted a plumber they would have to call one themselves', 'yes he had a therapist, he had seen two people die in the space of a year'. Finally the doorbell went off and Harry excused himself. He grinned when he saw Jacob standing there. "Hey, Jacob."

Snape smiled down at Harry but there was something in his eyes that Harry couldn't quite identify. "Hello, Harry. Are you ready to go?"

Harry nodded and stepped out, closing the door behind him. "Yeah. Where we going?"

Jacob smirked. "You'll see when we get there. Have you eaten yet?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright then. Let's head off then."

* * *

Severus glanced at the boy out of the corner of his eye as they walked towards the car. It was unusual for him not to jump right out of the house as soon as he pulled up. Normally the boy was practically waiting by the door. He had never had to ring the doorbell before. He looked to the other side and spotted another order member. He grinned inwardly. "How are you feeling after yesterday? You're not too sore are you? I hope I wasn't too rough."

Potter shook his head. "My ass hurts a lot and I'm a bit sore all over but its fine. I had fun yesterday. The most fun I've had in a while. Being with you makes me happy." Potter slid into the passenger seat of the car and slammed the door.

Severus slid into the driver seat and grinned. "Well, I try. What would be the point if only one of us enjoyed it? Anyway, I'm not as young as I used to be. You can last so much longer than me. But, if you enjoyed yesterday you are going to love what I have planned for you today. You won't be able to walk by the time I'm done with you." Severus slammed the door and started the engine. As he started driving down the road he turned back to Potter. "So, what have you been doing today?"

Potter huffed. "Aunt Petunia had her book club round so I was playing butler. But then the liaison from the bank arrived and we sat in the kitchen and went over my accounts. Then when he left all the ladies from the book club where hounding me with questions. I made up some stuff but mostly stuck to a muggle friendly version of the truth."

Severus nodded. "Take it from a spy. The best lies are based on the truth."

Potter looked suspiciously up at him. "What are you planning for today?"

Snape smirked. "You'll see."

* * *

Harry was most definitely _not_ pouting. He crossed his arms and looked out the window. He preferred everything to be explained to him beforehand. He hated being kept in the dark. They had already stopped off at Snape's house and he had drunk the pollyjuice and gotten changed. He still wasn't being told where they were going.

When their destination rolled into view he couldn't bring himself to care. He was grinning from ear to ear when the car finally came to a stop.

Alton Towers!

_(AN: I have never been to Alton Towers nor do I have any intention of doing so. I don't know where it is in England but I think it's near London. I also know it makes no sense to go to an amusement park so late in the day but I couldn't think of anything else.)_

He had always wanted to go to a theme park. He jumped out the car and grabbed Snape by the arm, dragging the man to the entrance. Didn't they go through this exact same situation at the zoo?

Meh.

Harry and Snape spent the whole day doing lots of things. Harry quickly found out that Snape did not like the rollercoasters. He didn't mind. Really. It was fine. He didn't want to go on them anyway...

"For goodness sake, Harry. I know you want to go on it, just go. You don't need to hang around with me all day. I want you to be happy, that is why we're here. You enjoy yourself. Go." Snape pushed him towards the queue for one of the bigger ones. Harry grinned and hugged the man before joining the queue. In a shorter time than he was expecting he was on the ride and whizzing around the track.

When he got off Snape was standing there with an ice cream each and a bag of cotton candy. Harry enjoyed the ice cream a lot. He had only had it once or twice, excluding the summer before his third year. They didn't serve it at Hogwarts for some reason. He also greatly enjoyed the cotton candy. He had never had any before.

* * *

But the end of the day Severus was exhausted. He flopped down on a bench with Potter and took a bite out of the hotdog Potter had convinced him to get. It was surprisingly good.

The boy had really enjoyed himself today. He seemed dead on his feet. He was yawning more than he was eating. "Come on then, time to go home."

Potter groaned and stood up, yawned and took a bite out of his hotdog. He chewed slowly and looked sleepily up at him. Severus sighed and scooped the boy up, he was still small and light enough that he could carry him on his hip.

The boy was way too thin and it seemed to be getting worse. Did he ever eat?

When they got back to the car he settled Potter in the passenger seat and drove back to privet drive.

* * *

Harry looked around when he felt himself being shaken and realised they were back at Privet Drive. He slid out the car and said goodbye to Snape before heading towards the house. He let himself in and slid silently down the hallway to his cupboard. He glanced up and saw Dudley at the top of the stairs, trying to creep his way down. When he got to the bottom of the stairs the two teens stared at each other for a moment.

Dudley cleared his throat. "Um... can we talk? Upstairs?" Harry nodded and followed the boy up to his room. Dudley sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him. When Harry sat he took a deep breath. "Thank you, for saving my life last year. I managed to convince mum to tell me about dementors. I'm really glad you saved me. After everything I've done to you over the years..."

Harry sighed and shook his head. "You're my cousin. You're family. I had to save you. Besides, you only treated me like you thought you should. You've never been told anything different. I don't blame you really."

Dudley nodded. The two sat in silence for a moment before Dudley looked uncomfortable again. Harry waited patiently for the larger boy to ask what he wanted. "Um... do you... I mean... do you have any... pictures? Of your parents?"

Harry nodded and pulled out his photo album. He pointed to the picture on the cover. "This is mum and this is my dad."

Dudley looked over. "Wow. Your mum was hot."

Harry laughed.

The two boys talked for a while, Harry showing Dudley all the pictures in his book. There were even some from over the years at school. Mostly second year onwards since Collin was around and always gave Harry a copy of the photos he took that had Harry in them.

Dudley laughed at some of Harry's stories. Harry elected not to tell him about the life or death situations or the near death experiences. Dudley made some comments about Ginny having a crush on Harry but Harry simply made exaggerated gagging sound effects. "Ew! She's practically my sister! Her parents have all but adopted me and three of her brothers have decided that aside from the red hair I am officially one of them."

Dudley looked at Harry funny for a moment.

"What?"

"Just trying to imagine you with red hair." Dudley stood up and rummaged in his draws for a moment. "I got it here somewhere... "Ah! Here it is!" he sat on the bed with a small black duffel bag and started pulling out all different colours of hair dye. "One of my mates has this sister, Harriet. She is always dying her hair loads of different colours. It's really cool. Anyway, at a party I said I want to dye my hair so she gave me all of these as an early birthday present."

Harry looked over them. "Cool." Some of the colours looked just downright strange.

Dudley grinned. "Wanna dye your hair? It won't turn out exactly right since your hair is so dark. If you want a bright colour we would have to bleach your hair first."

Harry made a humming sound. "Could be fun. And with magic, if it turns out badly I can just cut all my hair off and grow it back."

Dudley blinked. "You can do that?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Oh, that reminds me of this year, in potions..." Harry then went on to tell Dudley about Dean's cauldron exploding and his hair growing down to the floor. They both laughed about it for a while.

Harry eventually pulled himself together. "I like hanging out with you, Big D. You're way more fun then you were when we were kids."

Dudley nodded. "Yeah... I was horrible back then. This year at school I was looking at things from a whole new perspective. I didn't have any friends. Everyone was afraid of me. I spoke to the school councillor a lot. I just told her that I had a near death experience and that you saved my life. We spoke a lot and she's helped me see things I didn't before."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Nearly dying tends to do that."

Dudley nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, I actually have friends at school now. You can see I've lost a lot of weight and I'm actually keeping it off this time. Did you know that if a man has a waist line of forty inches he is five times more likely to develop diabetes?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "No, I didn't."

Dudley nodded. "Yeah. Anyway... my teachers are saying I'm a lot better now. I'm actually trying to learn in class now and one of the girls in my English class, this really cute nerd, Grace, She's been tutoring me. I've gotten way better now and most of the students aren't afraid of me anymore."

Harry smiled. "Good. So, you and Grace?" he gave Dudley a suggestive grin and laughed when his cousin went bright red.

"Shut up!" Dudley spluttered.

When the boys got themselves back under control Harry realised something and looked down. "Big D, if you don't hate me anymore... why do you let your dad treat me like he does?"

Dudley sighed. He lifted the side of his shirt. Harry's eyes widened at the sight. Amongst the stretch marks on his waist was a clearly visible scar. It was about the size of Harry's hand, fingers stretched out. It was clearly a crucifix. Dudley sighed again. "I told mum and dad that I don't hate you anymore. I told them that maybe we should be nicer to you. When we got the news about your godfather I told them that maybe we shouldn't rub it in and that you probably needed emotional support."

Harry gently took Dudley's shirt and pulled it back down. "They didn't take it well?"

Dudley shook his head. "No. In fact... I learned something..." he looked up at Harry, his eyes glistening. "You probably don't remember but when we were about four was the first time dad ever beat you. They said it was because you did... accidental magic." Dudley shook his head. "It wasn't you. It was me. I did magic and mum saw. She told dad you did it and wrote to Dumbledore. He came and he bound my magic so I could never use it."

Harry's eyes widened. "What?"

Dudley smiled. "Turns out that the magic just skipped a generation. I was supposed to be a wizard. We could have gone to school together but Dumbledore sealed my magic off. Anyway... dad heated a crucifix and jabbed it into my side. Told me that if I spoke up in your favour again he would do the same to you before he killed you."

Harry looked down. He blinked tears away before leaning over and hugging Dudley. "I will make them all pay for what they did to you."

Dudley stiffened. "What are you planning to do?"

Harry smiled. "First, charge your parents with child abuse and anything else I can think of. They won't get away with this."

Dudley relaxed for a moment before he tensed again. "What about those ward things? Aren't you supposed to live with mum for your own safety?"

Harry blinked and sighed. "Oh... right... I forgot about that. Damn."

Dudley sighed. "So, want to dye your hair tomorrow?"

Harry laughed and let the subject be changed. "Yeah. Oh, hang on." He pulled out his phone and texted Snape. '**Do you mind if we cancel tomorrow? Me and Dudley have something we want to do.'**

A few minutes later he got a reply. '**Go for it. See you the day after?**'

Harry texted back '**sure**' and put his phone away. He and Dudley grinned at each other. Dudley then stood up. "I was about to sneak out when you came home. I had arranged to meet some mates at a club. I got some fake ID. Want to come?"

Harry shook his head. "Nah, don't have any ID do I? Anyway, I'm shattered. Jacob took me to Alton Towers today."

Dudley smiled at him. "It's good you've got someone like him."

Harry nodded and stood up. He stretched and smiled at Dudley. "I'm going to bed. See you in the morning?"

Dudley nodded. "Yeah. Sleep well."

Harry snuck back downstairs and slipped into his cupboard. He was asleep as soon as he lay down.

* * *

Severus smiled and sipped his spiced cider. So, Potter was spending tomorrow with his cousin? That was good. The boy needed to spend some time with his family. He wondered what the boys were going to do but decided that Harry would tell him all about it the day after tomorrow when they met up.

He looked down at his phone and sighed. He was going out and buying a computer tomorrow.

He stood up and stretched. He looked over his bookcase and pulled out the London directory. He sat back down and flipped through the pages. What to do with Potter...

Disco rollerblading looked fun.

There were plenty of museums and art galleries.

The tower of London was a tourist destination. So was the London eye.

There were a number of restaurants around, he could take the boy out to eat.

He shrugged. He had all of tomorrow to think about it. He might as well get some sleep for now. He took a shower and stepped into his room. He slipped on a pair of plain black boxer shorts and slipped on his new green t-shirt. He double checked that his wand was still in its holster on his forearm. Finding it was, he yawned wide and slipped into bed, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He woke with a jerk and stared at the phoenix patronus in front of him. "**Severus. I need you to come through to my office. Bring your bag.**"

Severus grabbed his medical bag and walked to his floo, grumbling. Honestly did that man not know what time it was? What time was it anyway? He glanced at the clock on the mantle. Three forty five. Severus huffed and flooed through to Albus' office. "Honestly Albus. Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Se-seve-russ..."

Severus stared down at Albus and dropped to his knees next to the man. He pried the ring off his finger and cast spell after spell to suppress the curse. He grimaced when he realised what that spell was. He battled for nearly half an hour before he finally managed to contain the curse to Albus' fingers. The curse would spread. It would have his whole hand by the end of the summer holidays. By the end of the school year...

Severus locked eyes with Albus. "You're dying." Albus nodded. "Albus. I can't stop this curse. I can slow it down but it will still spread. Albus... I hate to say this but... you have about a year before it reaches your heart and the last few months before then will be extremely painful."

Albus sighed. "I thought as much from that look on your face, my boy."

Severus helped Albus up and half sat half lay him on the couch in front of the fireplace. Why the man had that in his office was beyond him but it seemed to be useful now. He sat on the chair next to him and levelled the man with a stern glare. "Albus. What were you thinking? You have more sense than this. Putting on a cursed item."

Albus sighed. "It seems the temptation was too much, even for me."

Severus huffed and moved over to the cursed ring. "Temptation for what?"

Albus laughed quietly, he still seemed kind of out of it. "It's the resurrection stone, my boy. It can bring souls back so we can speak to them."

Severus looked at Albus. "The resurrection stone? Albus, it's just a myth. It doesn't exist. None of those items do."

Albus laughed. "No. No. They do. Harry has the cloak. You know the one? Invisibility cloaks don't last long. They don't. But his does. It has. It's lasted generations. It used to Charlus' but he gave it to James and James gave it to Harry. None should last that long and Charlus got it from his dad. It's _The_ cloak of invisibility." He nodded. "And that's the resurrection stone and this is the elder wand!"

He pulled his wand out and waved it around, causing a few books to fall off the shelves. Severus' eye twitched. "Okay, I'm confiscating this." He snatched the wand from Albus' hand. "You can have it back later. If these are as you say they are then why did you use the stone? You know the dangers it possesses."

Albus looked sad. "I needed to speak to her. I needed to know who it was."

"It was you, foolish brother."

Severus whipped around to see a beautiful young lady standing in the middle of Albus' office with her arms folded and glaring at Albus. What really caught Severus' attention though, was that while she was in colour, she was as see through as a ghost. He blinked. "Who are you?" he asked cautiously.

The woman smiled at him. "My name is Arianna Dumbledore. I'm Albus' younger sister. I died when we were children."

Albus shook his head. "It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me."

Arianna shook her head. "It was, Albus. I know it was. We all know it was. Why can you not see it? I don't blame you. I never blamed you. It wasn't your fault although it was your spell. You, Gellert and Abe are all at fault but so am I. I shouldn't have jumped in the middle of your fight like that."

Albus blinked. "Gellert?" he asked sleepily. "Yes. His fault. His spell. Not mine."

Arianna frowned and looked at Severus. "Is he going to be okay?"

Severus sighed. "That is hard to answer. For now, he is going to be quite out of it, both from the pain and from his magic adjusting to the spells. After that, he will be alright but not fine. He will be slowly dying over the next twelve months. He will be in a lot of pain. It will get worse the closer the spell gets to his heart. I could have detected the spell before he put the ring on if he had called me but there is no way to remove it once it has attached itself to someone."

Arianna sighed. "Is there nothing you can do?"

Severus shook his head. "No. I'm sorry." He stood up and walked over to Albus' desk and pulled out a gold phoenix medallion. "I need to tell the order about this." He activated the emergency summons and went back over to the couch. He scooped Albus up. "I'll take him to the hospital wing. Poppy can take care of him."

Arianna nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

Severus nodded and somehow managed to grab some floo powder. He flooed to the hospital wing and put Albus on a bed. Poppy came rushing in as she felt the wards alert her to someone coming into the room. Severus gave her a quick rundown before flooing to Grimmauld place.

He walked down to the kitchen and realised that everyone was there already. He tried to get their attention but they were all shouting amongst themselves. He sighed and lifted his wand up, sending a loud crack throughout the room. "It is too early to deal with all this noise. Shut up and sit down." He paused for a second. "NOW!"

Everyone scrambled to a seat. He put his wand back into its holster and sighed. He walked to the end of the room and stood behind Albus' chair. "I have some grave news for all of you." He paused for a moment to make sure he had everyone's undivided attention. They were staring at him but they didn't seem to be listening to a word he was saying. "What?"

Lupin coughed. "You're in a pair of boxers and a t-shirt."

Severus nodded. "Yes, this is what I sleep in. It is four in the morning. I had been asleep until recently. My sleep clothes are not the issue here. About half an hour ago Albus sent me a patronus. I flooed to his office and discovered him on the floor. He had put a cursed ring on." He lifted the ring up. "This ring to be specific. I don't know why he thought putting it on would be a good idea but this is most likely what he has been searching for."

Lupin narrowed his eyes. "What kind of curse are we talking about here?"

Snape sighed. "The kind of curse that leaves him with a year to live and that is _with_ me doing all there can be done to hold the spell back. If I hadn't gotten there when I did... he would have less time for every second longer it took me to get there and counteract the spell. If he had called me before he put it on I would have detected the spell and I could have removed it." he sighed again. "I don't claim to know how Albus' mind works and even attempting to gives me a migraine."

There was some nodding but mostly everyone looked shocked. Someone spoke up. "What will we do now? Without Albus we're doomed!" it took all of a second for the room to descend into panic.

Severus counted to ten in his head to calm himself down before cracking his wand again. When silence descended again he held his wand for all to see. "Who in here knows what this is?"

Lupin blinked. "That's your wand." He stated as if he was talking to a young child.

Severus nodded. "Exactly. Who in here also has one?" everyone tentatively raised their hand. "Good." He scowled and leaned forwards, placing his hands on the table. "So, why are you relying on Albus to save you? You have a wand. You have access to spell books. You can learn more spells and train yourself better. You are capable of defending yourself and others."

He looked around the room, staring at each person in turn. "You are all here because you have something vital to defeating the dark lord. We aren't going to give up just because Albus is dying. We're not going to just lie down and wait for death. We're going to fight back and we're going to win. I haven't risked my life every day of the first war and this one and sacrificed everything I have, everyone I love and everything I planned in life just to give up now. I've given too much for this to just let him win."

He stood up straight. "Here's what were going to do. Shacklebolt, Tonks and Moody, head to the ministry, get signed forms to question each and every prisoner in Azkaban under veritaserum. Start with the death eaters. Get every bit of information from them that you can. Names of death eaters, supporters, who is in what rank, safe houses, meeting points, everything you can get. When they've been questioned have them executed, not kissed, we can't trust the dementors. The dark lord is going to break his minions out at some point he just wants them to suffer for their mistakes first. Do it now, while there is barely anyone around. The dark lord has spies in the ministry. Don't tell anyone about it but make sure you are still being legal."

He turned to Darcy Minx. "Miss Minx. I can get you a list of all the Muggleborns in the country and where their parents live. I have a few properties you can use and I'm sure some other people do as well. If we ask Potter we can get hold of all the Potter and Black residences too. We can use them all as safe houses. You are in charge of getting these people to the safe houses without letting anyone know. We can't do it too many at a time. Make it look like mysterious disappearances or them running out of the country. We are going to have to crowd each of the houses with as many families as we can."

Minx nodded. "Yes sir. I'll get to organising my houses first."

Severus nodded. "Molly, you are in charge of organising the child care part. One of my properties is an orphanage. There are going to be orphans in this war. There already are some. You are in charge of looking after the children. Not only the orphans but any children left for their own safety. You can call in as many people as you need to help but make sure they swear at least a dozen oaths of silence. Write the oaths down and pass them to me. I will make sure there aren't any loop holes and if there are I will seal them. We can't risk the children's safety."

Molly nodded. "Alright. I'll do my best."

Severus nodded. "Lupin, stop talking to the wolf packs. Greyback has already got most of them under his control. speak to the lone wolves. The ones without a pack. Don't offer for them to fight, tell them you are giving them a safe place to hide during the war and that they _can_ fight if they want. I have a property in France that would be perfect for some wolves to live in for now. It has a lot of forest and is warded to the teeth. We can't stop the packs from joining Greyback but we can save as many wolves as possible."

Lupin nodded. "Right. I knew it was pointless trying to persuade them anyway. I'll get on that."

Severus nodded and turned to the others. One by one he gave them orders and directed them to where they needed to go. Within the hour he had everyone organised and ready to do what they needed. When everyone had a task they all split off, arranging to meet next Sunday.

Severus flooed home and was about to drop into bed when his arm started burning. He quickly pulled his death eater robes on, slipped the mask over his face and apparated to the dark lord. This was going to be a long night.


	6. Chapter 6

Severus dropped to his knees and breathed hard. The dark lord was pissed off about something. Finally the man sighed and leant back in his throne. "Severus. Have you heard any news yet of Dumbledore's movements?"

"Not yet, my lord. He is waiting for you to strike first I believe." Well, he was screwed. When the dark lord found out about what he had just that minute ordered the order to do he would be on the receiving end of so many curses he wouldn't be able to think straight.

The snake faced bastard hummed. Before throwing a few more curses around. It helped him think apparently.

* * *

Harry opened his eyes and pulled out his phone. He had just been forced to watch the entirety of a death eater meeting. He sent a quick text to Snape. '**Are you alright? Don't say 'I'm fine.'**'

It was a little while before the reply came through. '**Wet reaaally numbers top treach you occcklumnenmcy.**'

Harry blinked at the text. He typed it out himself and tried to figure out what it was supposed to be. He gave up trying after a minute. '**I have no idea what you just said. Will you be ok?**'

Again, the reply was a long time coming. '**Yes. I just took something. I will be fine. I am used to it. I meant we really need to teach you occlumency. I will see you tomorrow. We can talk then.**'

Harry sighed and put his phone away. He climbed out of his cupboard and stretched. He went into the kitchen and cooked breakfast. He was inwardly happy when Dudley started complaining about Harry looking like a concentration camp victim and Petunia mentioning the neighbours thinking Harry is important. Vernon grumbled but let Harry eat. Not just crumbs and leftovers either. A proper breakfast.

Petunia was fussing about Dudley being on a diet again but Dudley calmed her down somehow. After breakfast the two boys disappeared upstairs to the bathroom. Dudley smiled. "Now. Since my hair is blond anyway I don't need to bleach it but your hair is dark so we need to bleach yours to get a good colour out of it."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Have you decided what colour you want?"

Dudley nodded. "Yeah. I'm having this red one."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. That would look cool."

Dudley smiled. "What about you then Harry? What colour are you going for?"

Harry blushed. "I couldn't decide so I thought... what if we only bleach some bits and dye them all different colours?"

Dudley blinked and grinned. "That would look cool! Okay. First, we need to get your hair into this and pull out all the bits we want to dye so we can bleach them." He pulled out some kind of plastic hat thing.

Harry nodded. "I also have this." He pulled a bottle out of his pocket. "It's a hair growth potion. Fred and George gave it to me last year but I've never used it. It's been sitting in my trunk." He had gotten it out of his trunk while Dudley was getting the dye and bleach.

Dudley grinned and Harry drank some of the potion. He grew it so his hair reached halfway down his back. It now fell in soft waves. Dudley grinned again and put the plastic cap thing he had in his hand away. Instead he just sat Harry on a chair in front of the sink and put all of Harry's hair they would be dying in the sink to bleach it.

The two boys spent the whole morning in the bathroom dying each other's hair. Harry ended up with streaks of red, bright green, light and dark blue, yellow, orange, purple, white, pink and grey all mixed in with his natural black hair, fading into a mix of them all at the bottom. The streaks were really thin so he was able to get all of them in without looking like a rainbow threw up on him. After they had dyed their hair Dudley insisted on cutting Harry's hair into a better style.

By the end of it Harry was telling Dudley he should work in a salon. His hair was awesome and was so much more manageable now than it was before. He tied it back into a low ponytail and smiled. He looked cool.

They went downstairs and had lunch. "Hey Harry, want to come hang out with my mates today? We're going to the cinema. It's Mike's birthday on Thursday."

Harry nodded. "Sure. What are you seeing?"

Dudley grinned. "We're gonna see that new Spiderman movie. Mike is really into the whole fantasy genre."

Harry nodded. "Cool. Yeah, I'll come."

Dudley grinned wider. "Awesome. Let's go!"

The two of them made it Dudley's friend's house in no time. The other guys welcomed Harry easily. He was surprised since he thought it would be a bit awkward at first. Mike especially welcomed Harry once he found out Harry was into magic and fantasy creatures.

As it turned out, Mike's mum had hired a mini-bus for the party. When some of the boys started asking if they could have sweets and things at the move she looked nervous. "We can't really afford it boys, I'm sorry."

Harry shook his head. "Don't worry." He pulled out a fifty and passed it to her. There was a series of wide eyes staring at him in shock. He shrugged. "Bus hire, tickets and snacks. You'd be surprised. Fifty won't go very far."

Dudley blinked at Harry. "Where'd you get a fifty?"

Harry smirked and did his best 'haughty pureblood' impression. "Are you forgetting _I_ am a _Lord_?" he sniffed disdainfully and turned his nose up at Dudley.

Dudley grinned and laughed. "Oh yeah. And the Earl of some-place-or-other. I keep forgetting. Yeah, you're loaded."

Harry stuck his tongue out at him. The day passed quite quickly. All too soon they were in a restaurant for dinner and then heading back home. He had had loads of fun with Dudley and his friends. They all fit together like they had been friends for their whole life instead of just including Dudley this year and meeting Harry that day. It was nice to spend some time being a kid and doing something muggle. Harry sighed and smiled. He nudged Dudley. "Hey. Thanks for inviting me."

Dudley grinned. "No problem. I knew you and Mike would get on well."

It was true. Harry and Mike had really hit it off. They had even exchanged phone numbers though Harry had told him that he would be at his boarding school so they couldn't meet up. The two had nerded it out over the movie as soon as it was over, discussing how awesome it would be to have powers like Spiderman.

Dudley and Harry waved to the others as they set off down the road back home. When they got there they stood in shock. There were police cars parked out front and Vernon was being led into the back of a van. He was putting up a huge fight. When he spotted Harry he started shouting at him. "This is your fault freak! How dare you do this! You will pay for this freak!" he managed to break free of the officers grip and ran over to Harry. Harry flinched back and covered his head with his arms.

There was the sound of skin hitting skin and a thud of a body hitting the ground.

Everyone stared on in shock.

* * *

Severus sighed. He looked at the letter in his hand, the owl who delivered it held in the crook of his other arm, practically unconscious despite the short flight. He flooed through to Grimmauld Place and spotted Miss Granger immediately. Next to her were Fred, George, Ronald and Ginevera Weasley. He placed the bedraggled owl on the perch and stepped closer. "What did you need me for, Miss Granger?"

"It's about Harry, sir."

He sighed. "When is it not? What's the matter this time?"

Granger glowered at him. Ginevera and Ronald looked like they were about to shout at him but they were interrupted by the twins speaking simultaneously. Something they only ever did when they were upset. "He's being abused at home."

Severus sighed. "I suspected as much. I had hoped I was wrong since Albus kept telling me he was fine. What proof do you have? I can't do anything if I have no evidence."

The twins seemed to relax since they went back to twin speak. "He is dangerously underweight at the start of the year."

"He flinches if you raise your hand."

"Or your voice."

"He has a lot of scars."

"He hid them somehow during the second task."

"We think it was accidental magic making a glamour."

"He has a very low view of himself."

"He doesn't feel pain the same way other people do."

"Like he's used to it or something."

Severus nodded. "I had noticed this as well. Is there anything else?"

Fred nodded. "He's always saying how much they hate him and how much he doesn't want to go back."

George nodded. "Yeah. In our fourth year, his second, we went to get him from his house and he had bars on the window, Hedwig's cage was locked and his door was locked from the outside with twelve locks."

Fred nodded. "Yeah. We were lucky to be able to unlock it and get downstairs. His school stuff was locked up in his trunk in the cupboard under the stairs."

George bit his lip. "Harry doesn't know we know this sir... but when we were getting his school stuff from under the stairs..."

Fred spoke up when his brother trailed off. "There was a sign on the inside of the cupboard. 'Harry's room'. It looked like he was really young when he did it. Sir, he used to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs. In a four bedroom house with two spare rooms!"

Severus narrowed his eyes dangerously. "I see." He hissed. He had to take a deep breath and pull his magic back from where it was dangerously close to breaking out. He turned around. "I will deal with this. Thank you for letting me know." He flooed back home and drank a pollyjuice. He headed to Surrey and contacted the police station. He told them all that the Weasleys and Granger had told him and they agreed to look into it. He disillusioned himself and followed them.

When they seemed to be about to leave without even looking at anything he sent a mild computation to one of the officers. "Well sir, since you have nothing to hide then you won't mind if we take a peek into your cupboard under the stairs? If what you say is true then it's only cleaning thing and bits and bobs in there, right? Nothing to cause a fuss over. We'll just have a quick peek and leave. Drop all the charges."

Vernon bristled but before he could protest the officer had stepped up to the cupboard and opened the door. They all stood in shock at the blood stained bedding and clothes in the cupboard along with the sign, proudly displayed on the wall saying 'Harry's room' in a childish script.

The Dursleys were then cuffed and charged with child abuse.

They had to call for back up so they could take the two of them to the station. As they were putting a struggling Vernon into the van Potter and his cousin showed up round the corner. As they came closer Vernon went nuts and charged at Harry. Severus was about to step in when the youngest Dursley (what was his name, Dudley?) stepped forwards and clocked his father straight in the face.

* * *

Harry peeked past his hands and looked in shock at Dudley, who was massaging his fist. He turned around to face Harry. "You alright?"

Harry nodded weakly. "Yeah..."

Harry couldn't really piece together what happened next. There was movement. Jacob turning up and leaving with him and Dudley. There was the tight squeezing of apparition and being sat on a couch in front of a fire. There was voices and then silence. He knew Dudley was sitting next to him. Both were silent.

Dudley was the first to speak up. "Harry... who was that man?"

Harry was vaguely aware of answering, "Jacob. My therapist." before he passed out.

* * *

Severus sighed. The whole house was a crime scene so he wasn't able to get any of Harry or Dudley's belongings. He sat in the passenger seat of a police car giving his report to an officer. He told her everything he knew and how he came by some of the information. He got out of telling them much by telling them that while he was Harry's therapist they hadn't gotten around to talking about the Dursleys yet.

He was eventually let into the house and packed a bag for the Dursley boy. When he got back home it was to see the Dursley boy pacing and Harry lying down in the sofa.

He frowned. "What happened?"

Dursley jumped. "Um... he passed out not long after you left..."

Severus sighed and stepped closer. He waved his wand and sighed again. "An adrenalin crash mixed in with a panic attack and his poor state of health. He'll be fine after some bed rest and a good meal."

He stood straighter and drank the antidote for the pollyjuice. "Now then, Mr Dursley-"

"Dudley. Dudley Evans. I can't use Dursley anymore. Not after him... what he did to Harry."

Severus paused. "Mr Evans. Would you help me with dinner?"

Evans blushed. "Sorry sir but I can't cook. That's always been Harry's thing."

Severus nodded. "Very well then. Watch and learn. Being able to cook is an important life skill."

Evans nodded and the two of them went into the kitchen. Severus taught the boy how to use a knife and showed him how to cut some of the ingredients and he cut them well enough for a first try. When dinner was cooked he went and woke Potter. The three of them ate and Severus insisted on the boys going to bed. He glanced at his bathroom but decided against having a shower since he had one yesterday and his hair was easily damaged due to the products he had to use during the school year to protect it from potions.

He slipped into his pyjamas and was just going to sleep when Albus' patronus came in. He groaned and stood up, picking up his medical bag and flooing to Grimmauld place. He stepped through into the kitchen. "Twice in a row, Albus? Am I not allowed to sleep anymore?"

Albus smiled. "Ah, Severus hello, hello." He waved his good hand and Severus sighed.

"Albus. It is good to see you're alright, aside from that hand of yours, but for what purpose did you call us here? I haven't slept in over forty eight hours. I am tired and still healing from numerous bouts of cruciatus. This had better be important."

Albus sighed and nodded. "Indeed. Two very important things. Firstly, my wand has been stolen." There was a flurry of whispers.

Severus sighed. "It wasn't stolen, Albus. I confiscated it while you were... less than coherent. You nearly toppled a bookcase." He pulled Albus' wand out of his medical bag and passed it to the man.

Albus smiled. "Ah, that answers my question as to what happened to my bookcase. However, we have something of much greater importance to worry about right now. Harry Potter and his cousin have been kidnapped." Shocked gasps and exclamations ran through the room. "Quiet now, let me explain. It seems that someone had levelled false charges against his Aunt and Uncle and Harry and young Dudley were taken away by the man that has been seen courting Harry this summer."

Severus raised one eyebrow and easily silenced the whispers with a simple question. "_False_ charges?"

Albus nodded. "Yes. False charges."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "And what charges would those be?"

Albus shook his head. "I don't think-"

"They wouldn't perhaps be child abuse, neglect, embezzlement of funds, multiple counts of attempted murder, resisting arrest, assault, assault of a police officer and attempting to pervert the order of justice?"

The room was silent. Albus coughed. "Um. Yes, my boy. Those are exactly the ones."

Severus nodded. "They aren't false charges."

More silence. Severus inwardly smirked, he was quite enjoying being able to silence the room like this. "If you are wondering of Potter and Dursley's whereabouts you need not worry. They are both safe. I will bring them here when I can." He stood up. "For now, I am going back to bed." He made to turn around and deliberately collapsed his left knee. He managed to catch himself before he toppled to the floor. "I am still recovering from the cruciatus I got last night when I had no new information to give _him_." He walked out the room, miss-stepping again near the door and ramming his shoulder into the doorframe. That was an accident. "Ow."

He didn't look back when he heard Albus calling him.

He got to the fireplace and flooed home. He walked back to his room and fell into bed face first.

He was asleep in seconds.

* * *

Harry woke slowly and realised there was someone in the bed with him. He slowly opened one eye to come face to hair with the top of Dudley's head. He slid out of his cousin's arms and went to take a shower. He giggled at the rainbow coloured water dripping down him from his hair.

By the time he got out his neck was hurting. Now he realised why people didn't recommend hair growth potions. The extra weight, especially when wet, was killing his neck. It would be a while before he was used to it. He silently went into the kitchen and cooked breakfast for the three of them. He woke Dudley first. When he opened the door to Snape's bedroom he froze in the doorway.

He backed out slowly and shoved his fist in his mouth in a desperate attempt to muffle his laughter. He pulled out his phone and got the camera ready. He poked his head back around the door. The light was already on so the man must not have turned it off when he went to bed last night. Harry quickly took a picture of the sleeping professor.

He was on his back with one hand wrapped around behind his head with his hand nearly touching the jaw on the opposite side, the other arm was underneath him and his hand was pointing away from him. He was sitting on one leg with the knee pointing nearly at a right angle to his body but still somehow lying flat on the bed and the other leg had the knee facing the inside of his legs and the foot pointed off to the side.

It did not look at all comfortable.

Or possible. How flexible was this man?

Harry made sure he had some good pictures and put his phone away. He paused for a moment and got it back out again. He set up the camera to record and pointed it at Snape but where the man wouldn't notice it. He hit record. "Professor? I made breakfast."

Snape grunted and opened his eyes. "Whaaa?"

"Breakfast."

The man grunted again and freed his foot from beneath him. He slid out of bed and stood up, only to fall to the ground with a grunt. He grabbed hold of his foot. "Ah! Ah! Dead foot!"

Harry barely held back his giggles as the man sat on the floor in a pair of plain black boxers and a bright green t-shirt, rubbing his foot to get the feeling back. Eventually Snape stood up, even though his foot was at a funny angle. Harry pressed the stop button and retreated. He stuffed his phone in his bag and ran to his room. He face planted the bed and wheezed into the pillow.

A few minutes later Snape came in. "Harry?" He walked over and sat on the bed. "Harry? What's wrong?"

* * *

Severus grunted when he heard someone talking to him. He blearily opened his eyes. "Whaaa?"

"Breakfast."

Ah, Harry. Breakfast? Sounds lovely. He went to swing his feet out of the bed and realised he was sitting on one of his feet. He lifted himself up and freed his foot before standing. Unfortunately he must have been lying on that foot for quite some time as it was completely dead to the world. Severus tried to stand but his foot gave out beneath him and he collapsed to the ground.

He gasped and winced as his foot went very cold and then slowly started to get the feeling back with that horrible pins and needles feeling. He rubbed at his foot for a few moments before standing. His whole body ached a bit but he knew he would get the feeling back into it soon. It came with being a restless sleeper.

His foot still felt a bit funny and he knew that he was standing on it strange. Harry darted away from his doorway and he raised an eyebrow before shaking his head. He headed to the kitchen, half limping on his foot, and found Evans sitting at the table. No Harry.

He looked around. "Where's Harry?"

Evans frowned. "He said he was going to get you."

Severus nodded. "He did. Maybe he's in the bathroom." They waited a minute. Severus stood up. "I'm going to see what's taking him so long."

Evans nodded.

He walked down the door and heard something from Harry's room. He poked his head around the door and found Harry face down on his bed, holding his pillow to his face. His shoulders were shaking and he could hear the boy taking gasping breaths.

Was he crying?

"Harry?" no answer. He walked over and sat on the bed. "Harry, what's wrong?" he lay a hand on the boy's back and gently rubbed in circles.

Harry shook his head and gasped something into his pillow.

Severus frowned. "Sorry Harry, I didn't hear that. You're speaking into your pillow. What did you say?"

He leant over and heard the boy this time. "Y-you! You!" the boy gasped and buried his face into his pillow, his shoulders shaking a few times.

"What about me, Harry? What did I do to make you cry like this?"

Harry shook his head again. "No... crying... you... sleep... wake... so funny!" the boy turned his head around and Severus could see the huge grin on Potter's face before he buried his face in the pillow again.

Severus blinked for a moment as he tried to piece things together. Oh. Harry wasn't crying. He was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. And having his face in his pillow didn't help much. Severus tilted his head and mock glared at the boy. "Harry. I thought you were upset. Come on, get yourself under control, that lovely breakfast you made is going to get cold."

Harry sat up and nodded, still giggling. They made their way into the kitchen and sat down to breakfast, Harry still trying to control his giggles. When breakfast was finished he dragged Evans to his room. Severus shook his head and started cleaning the dishes. When he finished he looked at the time. He should bring Harry and Evans to Grimmauld place now. But he should probably get dressed first. That is twice now that the order has seen him in his boxers and a t-shirt.

He walked over and went to knock on Harry's door when he heard voices from inside. "Professor Snape is cold, mean, heartless and cruel. He's always harsh and punishes everyone for even the tiniest of things." He moved away from the door. Is that what Potter thinks of him?

He glared at the door and stalked to his room. He opened his wardrobe door and pulled out his teaching robes. Was Potter just pretending to like him? To get close and laugh with all his friends later? He would have to tell them he nearly killed himself. Maybe they already know? Of course they know. He tells them everything.

Just as he finished getting changed there was a knock at his door. He turned and glared at Potter. "What is it, Mr Potter?"

Potter blinked. "Mr Potter? Why the sudden formality? It's just me. Anyway, is there some way to unbind someone's magic once it's been bound?"

Severus turned away from Potter. He couldn't bear to look at the boy, who was still pretending to be nice to him even after what he had told his cousin just now. He took a deep breath. "Yes. It can be done at Gringotts."

"Can we go now, sir?" he could hear the grin in Potter's voice. Why was this boy still acting so happy?

He took a deep breath. He couldn't snap at the boy. It was only a little over a month ago that he had tried to kill himself. No. He was going to let the boy know that he didn't have to pretend anymore.

* * *

Harry dragged Dudley off after breakfast to show him the video. Dudley found it funny and laughed but he didn't see why Harry found it so hilarious.

Harry shook his head. "Whenever he's around other people, Professor Snape is cold, mean, heartless and cruel. He's always harsh and punishes everyone for even the tiniest of things... but in private, with just me, he's completely different. Snape the teacher is a bit of a git but Snape my friend is a good person. Around other people he has to act like a git because of his role in the war, he's our spy. He always has to put on this hateful persona so to see him like this," Harry waved his phone, "It's so different from normal that I just couldn't control myself."

Dudley nodded. "Right. I get it." he sighed. "I wish I could have gone to school with you. It would have been so cool."

Harry nodded. "OH! Wait! Hang on. I have to do something!" He dashed from the room. He found the door to Snape's bedroom partially open so he knocked on the frame and poked his head in.

Snape looked stiffly at him. "What is it, Mr Potter?" he spoke coldly. Without any of his usual emotion or tenderness. Harry knew it would be like this when they got back to school but why was the man doing this now?

"Mr Potter?" he asked in surprise. "Why the sudden formality? It's just me." he wouldn't admit it to anyone but he was actually a bit scared right now. "Anyway, is there some way to unbind someone's magic once it's been bound?"

Snape turned away from him. Why wouldn't the man look at him? "Yes. It can be done at Gringotts."

Harry grinned but it still didn't dispel the feeling in his gut. "Can we go now, sir?" he was happy that his voice didn't give away how he felt. He saw Snape struggling with something and took a tentative step forwards.

Snape turned around. "Potter, I'm taking you to Grimmauld place with your cousin. If you have any issues you can take them up with your minders there. Go get your things together."

Harry blinked. What? "You're... sending me to-to Grimmauld place? What... why?"

Snape huffed. "I think we would both prefer it if we didn't have to spend any more time than necessary in each other's company, don't you? I will see you for potions class in the next school year _if_ by some miracle you got an outstanding. Other than that I will see you for occlumency every other Sunday." He turned back around and pulled out a suitcase.

Harry stood in the doorway. What... what... was Snape tired of him already? He knew it must have been annoying the man to have to listen to him whining all the time. Why did the man snap so suddenly?

The only thing that had changed was...

The Dursleys.

Snape found out about the Dursleys...

Yes, that must be it.

Snape found out about what a worthless freak he is and the man doesn't want anything to do with him anymore. He blinked and felt hot tears snaking their way down his cheeks but he didn't care.

Snape had cared. Not anymore. Snape knew more about him than anyone else but he still left him. Harry turned and walked to the bathroom. He locked the door and looked at the mirror. His skin was drawn and sunken in. It clung to his bones tightly since there was no fat in it. There were big black bags under his eyes. His skin was a pasty, sickly whitish yellow colour.

Harry glared. There was nothing good in the mirror. Nothing worth seeing. Nothing anyone would want to hang around with. Even without his glasses he still looked horrible. His eyes were nowhere near as bright as they used to be. They didn't have the same kind of light he saw in his friends' eyes.

He sat on the floor against the tub and hugged his knees. He was far too thin. He could feel every bone in him. There was nothing to him.

He looked at the pocket knife in his hand. When had he taken it out of his bag?

Snape didn't want him anymore.

Snape was the only person to tell him he was worth something.

He didn't want to feel like this anymore.

He dragged the blade across his wrist and watched as the crimson liquid dribbled down his arm. He smiled as the blissful numbness spread. He lay against the bath for a moment, enjoying the numbness before he healed the wound, cleaned up and went to his room.

Well...

It wasn't his anymore was it?

He told Dudley what happened and started gathering the few items he had that were here. When he looked up Dudley was gone. He trudged slowly to the floo room and sat on the couch, waiting.

* * *

Dudley poked his head around Snape's door. "Professor?" Snape glared up at him. Wow, the man had a cold glare. "Why did you make Harry cry?" Snape blinked in shock. "Yeah, you made him cry. I don't think he realised he was but he is. He's crying 'cus you told him he's worthless."

Snape frowned. "I did not tell him that."

Dudley glared at the man. "You are the only adult he has ever trusted. You are the only _person_ he feels he can properly trust. You mean the world to him and you tossed him aside _now?_ Right when he needs you the _most_?" did this man not know how stupid he is? "Harry is in a really bad place right now sir. I recognise that look. It's the same look I saw in my own eyes after the dementor attacked me last year. He is hurting so much right now and he chose _you_ to help him. Out of everyone. You, who bullied him for _five years_."

Snape snorted and turned away. "He doesn't care about me. I heard him talking to you, Dursley. 'Professor Snape is cold, mean, heartless and cruel.' That's what he said, isn't it?"

Dudley nodded. "Yeah, but it started with, 'whenever he's around other people' and ended with 'but in private, with just me, he's completely different. Snape the teacher is a bit of a git but Snape my friend is a good person.' Harry adores you, Snape. He looks up to you. A lot. I don't think you actually know just how much you mean to him."

Snape shook his head and carried on packing. He opened a cupboard and froze, staring at one place.

Dudley frowned. "Sir?"

The man slammed the cupboard shut and pushed past Dudley, straight to Harry's room. He opened the door, looked in and shut the door again. He walked further down the hall and walked into another room.

* * *

Severus felt his head skip a beat or few when he noticed the box he stored Potter's potions in.

The healing potion had gone down.

Harry had cut again.

He slammed the door shut and went in search of the boy. He found him in the floo room. "Potter?"

The boy looked up and Severus felt his chest clench painfully at the look in the boy's eyes. It was like he had completely given up. They were dead. Lifeless..."Yes sir?"

He walked over and sat on the couch next to the boy. "You cut again?"

Harry nodded. "Why do you care? You hate me." he muttered.

Severus blinked. "Harry... I don't hate you."

"Then why did you hurt me?"

Severus jerked back in shock. "Where did I hurt you, Harry?"

The boy blinked slowly and raised a hand to his chest. "Here." He blinked again and tears slowly started making their way down his cheeks. "In here... it hurts..."

Severus sighed and took the boy into his arms. "How did I hurt you, Harry?"

Potter blinked. "You hate me. You know I'm a freak. You don't want me anymore."

Severus sighed. "I don't hate you Harry. I heard you talking to your cousin and I thought you hated me and were just pretending to like me. That hurt, Harry. I've had a lot of people use me like that. I tried to push you away so I wouldn't get hurt."

Harry shook his head and burrowed into him. "Don't hate you."

Severus sighed and held the boy tighter. The two of them sat together for a while. Each apologising to the other. Harry eventually fell asleep and Snape was almost there when Evans came into the room.

* * *

*sigh* This story seems to have hit a rut. Hopefully I can fix it before next month's update.

If you like this story please leave a review or Favorite/Follow and don't forget to vote of the poll on my profile for which of my stories you want to be uploaded the most frequently. The Power of Shadows has been added and the number of votes has been increased to two. Go check it out.

See you next month!


	7. Chapter 7

Dudley looked into the room. "Sorry to disturb you two, but it's nearly lunch time and weren't we supposed to go somewhere today?"

Snape sighed and shook Harry awake. "Right. Right. I told the headmaster I would bring the two of you to Grimmauld place today."

Harry nodded and yawned before mumbling, "Can we go to Gringotts first? I want to unbind Dudley's magic."

Snape looked between the two cousins. "What do you mean?" Dudley smiled slightly and explained what had happened. Snape nodded. "We can sort that out at Gringotts. Come along."

Harry smiled tiredly at Dudley, who smiled back, and followed Snape out of the room. Soon enough the three of them were pollyjuiced and heading to Gringotts. As soon as Snape mentioned unbinding Dudley's magic the teller ushered them into a room at the back where they were met with another goblin who took them to a ritual chamber.

An hour and a half later they were back at Snape's house. Dudley was sitting on the couch with a ridiculous grin on his face while Harry and Snape made lunch. After lunch Dudley was still grinning like a loon but the goblin healer had told them it was just a side effect from the ritual and suddenly being able to feel his magic.

One they finished Dudley went to Harry's room to lie down for a while. Harry sat cuddled into Snape on the sofa, his head tucked under the man's chin. Snape summoned a parchment, quill and bottle of ink and started writing out a list of addresses with apparition co-ordinates. Some of them had an asterisk at the start. He then summoned another two pieces of parchment and wrote a single address on each.

When he finished he just sat in silence with Harry for a while. Eventually he spoke up. "Harry, we need some safe houses during the war. This is a list of all my properties, the Prince family was rather wide spread. This one is an orphanage, though there is no one there at the moment. I was wondering if we could borrow the Potter properties."

Harry nodded. "Sure, but I haven't seen any of them."

Snape nodded. "No problem. I am sure Jacob could take you around them."

Harry laughed at Snape referring to his pollyjuiced self in the third person. It made sense for Jacob to take Harry around rather than Snape. They couldn't let anyone know about Snape being a spy. "When is Dumbledore expecting us?"

Snape sighed. "This morning." He huffed. "I suppose we should get up." Harry nodded. They stayed still for a moment before Harry sat up and moved away from Snape. They both stood up and, after making sure Harry and Dudley had everything they went to the floo room. Dudley had calmed down after his nap and was no longer grinning like a loon. Snape turned to Harry. "These are some books on Occlumency. I want you to read them. We have made a start on clearing your mind during our therapy sessions, since getting all of that off your chest will help you block your mind better."

Harry nodded and took the books, putting them into his bag. "I'm sorry about our lessons last year."

Snape shook his head. "That's alright, Harry. I was doing a poor job of teaching you. When I realised the method I was using was doing no good I should have tried a different method."

Harry sighed. "We've both done a lot of things we regret."

Snape nodded. "Now, you know I have to pretend to hate you in public, right?" Harry nodded and Snape nodded back. "Good, don't take anything I say to heart. It's all an act, alright?" Harry nodded again. "I will be spending as much time as I can at Grimmauld place but I have a lot of potions to make and I need to have plausible excuses to leave so Jacob can come to see you every Saturday and at some point this week to take you around your properties."

Harry nodded. "Alright."

The three of them gathered themselves and Harry flooed through first, Snape flooing with Dudley behind him. He stumbled but caught himself and moved out of the way for Snape and Dudley. Snape helped Dudley over to a chair, not giving a glance to the three order members in the room. "Now, remember Mr Evans, you need to exercise your magic daily to stretch your core. I will check your progress in a week or so." He looked up at the order members. "Is Minx here?" They nodded and he swept out of the room, robes billowing behind him.

Dudley looked up at Harry. "You were right. He is an ass."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, but don't worry. You'll be seeing a lot of him over the next year while you catch up."

Dudley groaned. "So, what's magic school like, anyway?"

Harry grinned. "Well, Transfiguration is turning one thing into something else, Defence is magic used to attack and defend, charms is every other kind of spell, astronomy is studying the stars, Herbology is magical gardening and potions is magical cooking though don't tell Professor Snape I said that."

Dudley nodded. "I won't."

Harry sat on the arm of the chair. "Anyway, welcome to my home." He said sarcastically. "We've got bleak and depressing wall paper, a house elf that hates all of us, a portrait that screams at us-"

"FILTHY MUDBOODS! DIRTYING MY—" she was cut off as whoever disturbed her pulled the curtains closed.

"That's the one, and we have a few pests living in some of the rooms too. The only upside, is the company. Most of the time."

Dudley blinked. "So... a hell of a lot of bleach and white spirit, some cans of Dulux, some spray paint, air spray, fresh carpets and new furniture?" he ticked each item off on his fingers.

Harry nodded. "Yup. Here's my credit card. 3173. This bag is bottomless and won't weigh anything. Go nuts." He turned to the three conveniently located order members. "Go with him." Dudley stood up and took Harry's card and schoolbag. The three order members looked at each other and shrugged, following Dudley and showing him the way out of the house.

Harry stood up and stretched. He wandered quietly around the house before finding Ron, Hermione and Ginny in a room, scrubbing the floor. He leant against the frame. "You know, it works better if you do it in outward clockwise spirals."

The three of them jumped and spun around. Hermione shrieked. "Harry!" and hugged the life out of him. She pulled back and frowned. "Harry?"

He sighed. "They starved me again. It's okay though. Jacob gave me food whenever I saw him and Snape gave me some nutrient potions to take."

Hermione frowned. "About that man, Jacob..."

Harry grinned. "Yeah, he's really cool. He's been helping me out a lot. I'm really glad to have met him."

Ginny glared. "How can you want to see a man like him?"

Harry frowned. "What do you mean? Jacob's amazing. He's great at what he does. Why wouldn't I want to see him?"

Ron sighed. "Harry... I'm not judging your preferences or anything... but the age gap is a bit big don't you think?"

Harry tilted his head. "What's age got to do with anything?"

Hermione sighed. "Harry... we just think it would be better if you don't see him anymore."

Harry glared. "Since I've been seeing Jacob I've been happier than I have ever been. Why take that away?"

Hermione frowned. "Are you sure, Harry? You were fine before you met him, why is it suddenly a big improvement now?"

Harry blinked at her. "You really don't get it, do you?" He turned around and slammed the door behind him as he made his way upstairs, not wanting to be near them anymore. So what if he had a therapist? So what if Jacob was nearing fifty? So what if Harry enjoyed spending time with him? Was that so bad? Harry shook his head and looked around. He found himself in front of the door Buckbeak used to be behind. He poked his head around the door and found the room completely empty. They moved Buckbeak. He went inside and sighed, leaning against the door and practicing some of the basic occlumency techniques.

A few hours later he heard voices outside and looked out the window. Dudley was back, bringing the three order members with him. Harry went and met them downstairs and he and Dudley spent a good few minutes debating about Mrs Black. In the end they soaked some rags in white spirit and pulled her curtains open, vigorously scrubbing at her face. In a few moments she fell silent. And they both reached up and steadied the portrait as it fell towards them.

Dudley steadied it and placed it on its side on the floor before sliding it along the floor and he stashing it behind the sofa in the living room on the ground floor. The curtain rail was easily lifted off the hooks and stashed with the portrait. Harry then went into the kitchen and started on the dinner while Dudley looked through all the cupboards. He threw away all the mouldy or gone off food (occasionally asking Harry if something was good or not. Harry told him 'if in doubt, chuck it out.')

When Harry finished the food Dudley yelled up the stairs that dinner was ready. He had an impressively loud voice sometimes. Harry absently mused that he could probably give Mrs Black a run for her money.

Dinner was a slightly awkward affair, no one knowing who Dudley was (but not asking since he was sitting next to Harry) and Ron, Hermione and Ginny staying strangely silent. People were also wondering why Snape was eating with them. Eventually Molly spoke up. "So, Harry dear. What's this I hear about you hanging around with that man, what's his name, Jacob?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, Jacob Walker. He's awesome." He grinned lopsidedly at her.

Molly frowned. "Don't you think the age gap is a bit too big, dear?"

Harry frowned back, silently wondering why this kept coming back and why Snape seemed to be trying not to look too eager. "What's age got to do with anything? He makes me happy. Makes me feel like I actually matter to someone. What does how old he is have anything to do with it?" Now Snape looked even more like he was trying not to laugh, though Harry was probably the only one here who knew him well enough to tell.

Molly glared at him. "Harry James Potter, you listen to me. I don't want you seeing this man anymore."

Harry frowned. "Will all due respect, Mrs Weasley, you are not my mother, you cannot tell me who I can and can't see."

Molly stood up. "You are too young to be making such choices, young man?"

"Oh, but I'm old enough to fight in a war? To fight one to one with the darkest wizard this side of the millennia? Old enough to kill one of my teachers to save a stone that should never have been in the school in the first place? Old enough to fight a basilisk with a sword to save _your daughter_? Old enough to participate in the triwizard tournament? Old enough to be tried in front of the full Wizengammot? I'm not a child, Mrs Weasley. I never have been. I can make my own decisions."

Dudley looked at Harry and whispered, "You killed one of your teachers?" Harry gave him a 'we'll talk later' look.

Molly glared at Harry for a moment before deflating and sitting back down. "I'm sorry Harry... I just see you as one of my kids and thinking of you with that man... but you're right... you can make you own decisions... if you want to date him I won't interfere."

Harry blinked in shock. Dudley spat out the water he had just drank and coughed violently for a moment. "Date?" They coursed, going very pale. "You think I'm dating him?" Harry went a bit green. "_MERLIN NO_! Mrs Weasley, that's disgusting! He's _three times_ my age!"

Molly blinked. "You're not dating him?"

Harry violently shook his head. "NO! He's my _therapist_!"

There were a lot of shocked and relieved expressions all around the room before everyone turned to Snape when he started chuckling. He then started to laugh outright at the new expressions on everyone's faces.

Harry sighed and slouched in his chair. "You didn't tell them?" Snape shook his head and tried to get his breathing under control. "I hate you so much right now." He moodily went back to eating. Snape managed to get himself back under control and carried on eating. He put some more food on Harry's plate and Harry huffed but ate it anyway.

Ron then spoke up. "So... you're 'seeing him' as in seeing a therapist?"

"Yup."

A lady spoke up. "Why did you tell him your ass hurt?"

Harry blinked. "He took me ice skating. I fell over a lot."

They then spent a good half hour going over every conversation they had seen Harry having with Jacob, with Harry explaining it in context. Everyone was pretty embarrassed by the end of it.

Hermione cleared her throat. "So... are you seeing him because... of what happened with Sirius?"

Harry nodded slightly. "That and I've seen two people die in the space of a year. A year before that I was forced to repeatedly watch my parent's get murdered, a year before that I nearly died by basilisk venom and a few hours before then via a colony of Acromantula and the year before then I _murdered_ our teacher. I _killed_ a guy when I was _eleven_ and _no one__thought I might be troubled by that_? I nearly killed myself a little over five weeks ago!"

He rolled up his sleeve. Snape's eyes narrowed slightly at the small number of scars. Harry sent him a look, glanced at Dudley and scratched his back. Snape's eyes widened and he nodded. "If Professor Snape hadn't found me... I would have died of blood loss two weeks before school ended."

Dudley gently gripped Harry's shoulder. "And how our relatives treated him didn't help."

Several people blinked. "So, you two are related?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. He's my cousin. He's going to be starting Hogwarts this year but will be in special classes to catch him up the where he should be." They then had to explain everything. A lot of people were upset and refused to believe Dumbledore would do that. "Oh, no more than he would put an orphaned baby on the door step of a woman he knows hates magic, in the middle of the night in November? It snowed that year!"

There was a long silence.

Ron looked up at Harry. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Harry sighed. "I couldn't... I couldn't face you... about any of it. I was able to tell Jacob because he's a neutral third party. I can tell him because I won't get hurt if he is disgusted by me after. But I can't face you hating me..." he looked down and took a deep breath before standing. "Sorry." He dashed out of the room.

* * *

Severus sighed as he watched the boy flee. There was no other term to describe it. He fled.

He sighed heavily and stood up. "You all put so much faith in one man that you forget that he is just one man. He's not omniscient. He's not all knowing. He made a horrendous mistake and did nothing to correct it, even when he knew he had done wrong. In fact, he keeps trying to cover it up, while making the situation worse." He nodded to Evans who stood up and went after Potter.

He shook his head and decided to move on from that. He spent several minutes going over some more things with various order members. He gave Lupin the address for the property in France. The wards were set to only allow were-wolves in and no one else. He gave Molly the address of the orphanage with a list of his elves and staff and what all of their duties were. He had already given the list of his other properties to Minx earlier.

After dinner he went off in search of Potter. He found him asleep in a pile of bodies and smirked, quietly backing out of the room.

* * *

Harry sat in the master bedroom. This was his house now and this was one of the two clean rooms in the house. Dudley came up not long after he did and they sat together on the bed. He leant against him. "Why does no one ever take my feelings into consideration? I need help. I get hurt. I see and do things that no one my age should. Why can no one see that?"

Dudley shook his head. "They're all idiots. They can't see further than their own nose unless they are looking at one person they think can save them. They worship that Dumbledore bloke like he's a god or something."

Harry nodded. "They all act like he's the only one who can save us all from Voldemort but then turn around and ask me to do all the work and once I've done it they go right back to praising Dumbledore again. It's so frustrating. They all look to me for something I did as a baby but they won't acknowledge anything I've done since."

Dudley sat thinking for a moment. "You should write a book. An autobiography, but make it like a novel."

Harry blinked. "Hey, that's a good idea." Harry broke off when the door opened and Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked in. "Hey."

They Ron and Ginny looked embarrassed and nervous but Hermione launched herself at Harry. "Oh Harry!" they both toppled over backwards on the bed and Hermione buried her face in Harry's chest and cried. "Oh Harry. I'm so sorry. I should have seen it sooner. I'm so sorry! You shouldn't have to feel like that! You shouldn't. We're here for you. We always have been! Oh Harry!"

Harry tipped his head back and stroked Hermione's hair. "Mione... don't cry... please... It's okay. I'm getting help. I'm getting better. Please, don't cry."

Ron and Ginny came over and joined the pile. Harry and Dudley were now at the bottom of the pile with Hermione curled up against Harry's chest, Ron curled up next to Harry and Ginny lying on top of Hermione and Dudley.

There was crying and apologies and calm reassurances for a while before they all went to sleep.

Harry cracked his eye open as the door closed. What was that? He sighed and slid his way out of the pile without waking anyone and padded softly to the bathroom. He was glad that the master bedroom had an en suite bathroom.

He cast a silencing charm over the room and turned on the shower, letting it warm up while he got undressed. He put his tablet on the counter and set it to play randomly from the songs available that he could download. He tested the water and stepped in the shower, he had showered that morning but he felt like he needed one again.

As he washed, he listened to the music, taking note of which ones he wanted to download.

"_And I can't believe how I've been wasting my time. In twenty four hours they'll be hanging flowers on my life. It's over tonight."_

"_Even though I'm the sacrifice, you won't try for me, not now. Though I'd die to know you love me, I'm all alone. Isn't something missing? Isn't someone missing me?"_

"_Believe me when I tell you that I been persistent, cus I'm more scarred, more scarred than my wrist is. I've been trying to long with too dull of a knife but tonight I made sure that I sharpened it twice. I've never bought a suit before in my life but when you go to meet god you know you wanna look nice."_

"_In the white freeze, I never spoke of tears, or opened up to anyone including myself. I would like to find a way to open to you. Been a while, don't know if I remember how to. I'm here waiting on the edge. Would I be alright showing myself to you? It's always been so hard to do."_

Harry shook his head. Most of these songs were really depressing if you actually listened to the lyrics. He stepped out and dried his hair with a spell since he was practically falling over backwards with the weight. He glanced himself in the mirror and stood staring in disgust for a minute while the mirror insulted him.

"Far too thin, nothing but bone! Horribly pale and what is up with your hair?! You should-"

The mirror was cut off when Harry vanished it. "I know." He finished drying off and got dressed in some of his old cast offs. He slid out of the room and went back downstairs. He found his bag easily enough and took out the cleaning supplies. He went back into the kitchen and found Molly doing the washing up. He silently began scrubbing at the counter opposite her. Neither of them spoke for a long time.

Eventually the silence must have gotten to her because Molly was the first one to speak. "You're far too thin, Harry dear. Did you eat enough at dinner?"

Harry sighed. "I haven't eaten much at all this summer Mrs Weasley. It will be a while before I can eat a full meal. I will get better though. Jacob has been a great help."

Molly sighed. "Did you really try to kill yourself?"

Harry stood still for a minute before he silently went back to scrubbing. Molly seemed to get the hint as she didn't try to speak to him again after that. Once she finished the dishes she left, leaving Harry alone in the kitchen.

Harry sighed heavily once she was out of the room. He loved her, he did, but she was so overbearing at times and that silent disappointment was not helping him. He finished scrubbing both counters down and cleaned the rest of the kitchen. He rummaged through the bag and found tiles. He smiled. "Thanks Big D." He mixed the plaster and tiled the space between the counter and the cupboards above them. He then looked at the blank wall at the far end of the kitchen. Should he tile the whole thing, the top half or the bottom half? Top half was out, it would look strange with nothing underneath. He shrugged and painted the top half of the wall with the black, silver and gold paints Dudley had found. He swirled them around creating swirling, churning patterns before drying it with magic.

He stood in shock as the paint began swirling on its own, creating and endless swirling abyss of silver and gold clouds over a black background. He grinned and tiled the bottom half of the wall. The contrast between the silver and gold paint and the black tiles was nice.

He got the wood paint out of the bag and sanded, painted and varnished all of the cupboards, staining them light brown. He used the silver polish to clean the door handles. He used a levitation charm and a sticking charm to get all the furniture on the ceiling before pulling up the floor tiles and replacing them. He put the table and chairs back in place, vowing to deal with them later. He trudged back upstairs, washed up, put some pyjamas on and climbed back into the pile of lovely warm bodies in his bed.

* * *

Severus walked down to the kitchen. He got to the front hall before he stopped. He turned to the side and stared at the blank section of wall where the paper was clean and bright instead of peeling and faded like the rest of it. He stared for a moment longer when he realised that was the spot Mrs Black's portrait had been.

He blinked and shook his head. "That boy." He walked into the room and raised both eyebrows at the scene. The room was a lot cleaner than before and the back wall was brilliant. He shook his head and grabbed some breakfast. Potter would never cease to amaze him.

Once everyone was seated and had eaten he stood up. "I hope none of you are planning to completely blow my cover by mentioning anything you've seen of me this summer to anyone?" It was a rhetorical question but everyone frantically shook their heads. He nodded and swept out of the room.

He had things he needed to do.

* * *

Harry woke in the morning with his head falling off the side of the bed. He lifted his head up and looked around. Hermione was on her back with her feet on the pillow, her head at the end of the bad and draped over Harry's back. Ron was lying diagonally across the bed with one leg under Harry, the other over both him and Hermione and his back over Dudley, who was the only one in a seemingly normal position. Ginny was curled up in practically a ball next to Ron. She had both her feet tucked under Dudley and her head between Harry's legs.

Harry cast a tempus charm and moved about. He poked Hermione until she began to shift. He kicked Ron who jumped and elbowed Dudley, who jumped and slapped Ginny on the ass by accident. They all eventually managed to untangle themselves and Harry slid into his bathroom. He decided against having a shower. His neck hurt enough as it was without weighting his head down with his hair. He had a quick wash instead and stepped out into his room so Dudley could use the shower.

Once they were both dressed in cast offs they went downstairs for breakfast. Harry poked his head into Snape's room on the way past and was slightly disappointed when the man wasn't in there. They went downstairs and found almost everyone in the kitchen eating. They must have woken up late today. Breakfast was eaten mostly in silence as people looked around the kitchen.

Harry raised an eyebrow when Snape stood up and threatened everyone. He looked to Hermione. "What was that about?"

Hermione blushed slightly. "Um... well... Professor Snape had shown up here in his... sleepwear a couple of times now."

Harry nodded. "Ah, and he doesn't want anyone to know about it? Makes sense. What kind of Death Eater has a muggle T-Shirt with 'Keep Calm and Be Slytherin' on the front?"

There was nodding for a moment before Hermione asked. "How do you know what Professor Snape sleeps in?" total silence as everyone stared at Harry.

Harry nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Um... Jacob took me and Dudley to Snape's place after he picked us up night before last. I saw it then."

There was nodding. Hermione looked around the kitchen. "So what happened to this place? It wasn't this nice yesterday."

Harry grinned. "I woke up last night and since knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep unless I did something physical I fixed up the kitchen. I just need to do something with the counters, the table and chairs and the contents of the cupboards and I'll be done." He stood up. "Unfortunately I don't have anything I can do that with so I'll work on other rooms first and do the furniture when I'm done."

He waved over his shoulder and left the room. He spent several hours cleaning the front hallway and the stairs leading down into the kitchen. He knew Kreature was watching him the whole time. Eventually the elf came over. "Why is you doing this?"

Harry sighed but carried on scrubbing. "Work keeps my mind off things I would rather not think about. Besides, this house is a disgrace to the most ancient and noble house of Black. It gives the family a bad name."

Kreature snarled. "What?!"

Harry nodded. "A family's home reflects on the family themselves. The Weasleys family home, The Burrow, is warm and homey, it's full of things that have a personal meaning to the people who live there. It shows that the family are warm and kind, welcoming to others and not interested in material goods. They care more for family than they do money and possessions. This home is dirty, full of pests and falling apart at the seams. It tells everyone that the Ancient and Noble house of Black doesn't give a damn about anything. They don't care about appearances or making an impression. It shows the family is too poor to take care of their own home"

Kreature growled. "What can Kreature do about it?"

Harry glared at the old elf. "You are the house elf. It is your duty to take care of the house. Do your duty to the House of Black and clean this place up!"

Kreature popped away instantly and Harry huffed, finishing his work on the floor and starting on the wall. He stripped the old, pealing paper off and painted it gold. He painted the skirting boards silver and polished the silver candle holders on the wall. He polished the silver on the stair rail and cleaned and re-stained the doors. Once he was done with the hallway it was lunch time.

* * *

Dudley left the kitchen and went up to the room he and Harry had slept in last night. He planned to spend the morning working on those exercises the goblins told him to do. He was only at it for an hour before the three people from last night came in.

He smiled hesitantly at them. "Hey..."

They looked at him suspiciously. Eventually the brunette girl (Hermione?) came and sat next to him on the bed. "What are you doing?"

He looked down at his wand. "Um... some exercises the goblins at Gringotts gave me to do. They said it will help bring my magic out."

The red headed boy (Ron?) tilted his head. "Because of your magic being bound?"

Dudley nodded. "It will never be where it should be. It was bound for too long, but I can get it a good way there before it stops growing."

The redheaded girl (Ginny?) sat next to him. "So, you're Harry's cousin?" Dudley nodded. The girl twirled a bit of hair with her fingers. "Does he ever talk about us?"

Dudley shook his head. "We only got close a couple of days ago. He's told me a bit about you all and showed me his photo album but we haven't really had much time to talk about things."

She nodded. "Has he said anything about... having an interest in someone?"

Dudley smirked. "I think he has a thing for my friend Mike. From the stories he told me it sounds like you have a thing for him but when I asked him he made it quite clear you will never be more than a sister to him. Don't get your hopes up."

The girl huffed and left the room. Hermione sighed. "I've been trying to tell her that for ages. She won't believe it. So, Mike?"

She and Ron sat next to Dudley and he told them about their day out at the cinema. He was actually astonished at how little Ron knew about the muggle world. He was actually quite interested. By the time lunch rolled around Dudley felt a lot better about leaving his old life behind and moving into the wizarding world. He had his cousin, he had a budding friendship with Ron and Hermione and he was finally going to be a part of the world his cousin belonged to.

He smiled as he made his way downstairs for lunch. Things were starting to look up.

* * *

"_And I can't believe how I've been wasting my time. In twenty four hours they'll be hanging flowers on my life. It's over tonight." – _24, Jem

"_Even though I'm the sacrifice, you won't try for me, not now. Though I'd die to know you love me, I'm all alone. Isn't something missing? Isn't someone missing me?"- _Missing, Evanescence.

"_Believe me when I tell you that I been persistent, cus I'm more scarred, more scarred than my wrist is. I've been trying to long with too dull of a knife but tonight I made sure that I sharpened it twice. I've never bought a suit before in my life but when you go to meet god you know you wanna look nice."_ – Bullet, Hollywood Undead.

"_In the white freeze, I never spoke of tears, or opened up to anyone including myself. I would like to find a way to open to you. Been a while, don't know if I remember how to. I'm here waiting on the edge. Would I be alright showing myself to you? It's always been so hard to do."_ – Stray, Steve Conte (ending credits on anime, Wolf's Rain)

This chapter feels kind of rushed and most of it is filler, sorry. The story should pick up pace from here.


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